ATHENS (Sputnik) — This will be the largest evacuation in post-war Greece, estimated to cost 9,500 euros ($10,000). Residents within a 1.1-mile radius around the bomb have been asked to leave by 10:00 a.m. local time (8:00GMT).
The 550-pound bomb was discovered during road works, prompting authorities to rush 300 people from nearby homes to safety. A Softex refugee camp on the outskirts of Thessaloniki will also be cleared.
The operation to defuse and remove the bomb, believed to have been dropped by the Allies, is expected to take up to eight hours. A thousand of police officers and hundreds of volunteers will secure the area.
