The 500-kilogram aerial bomb, which is thought to have been dropped by American forces during WWII, was discovered by construction workers last week.
"Good news: the bomb has been defused! Citizens may return to their homes," the city of Ludwigshafen wrote on its official Twitter feed, where it also uploaded a photo of the corroded bomb strapped to a pallet.
— Stadt Ludwigshafen (@ludwigshafen_de) August 26, 2018
According to a Monday report by the Strait Times, all residents living within a 1-kilometer radius of the bomb site were ordered to leave their homes before the defusing task Sunday. The bomb was successfully defused in just over an hour.
It is not uncommon to find bomb remnants in Germany dating to the Second World War, which lasted from 1939 to 1945. In June, a 2-kilogram incendiary bomb was defused at the US Army's Robinson Barracks in Stuttgart, the capital of southwest Germany's Baden-Württemberg state
According to a Monday report by Stars and Stripes, approximately 2,000 tons of unexploded bombs and munitions from WWII are discovered every year in Germany. As many as 15 percent of the bombs dropped over the country during the war didn't explode and remain underground.
