German town evacuated Christmas Day to dismantle WW II bomb

Thousands of people in the southern German city of Augsburg left Christmas presents and decorations behind after they were forced from their homes while authorities disarmed a large Second World War aerial bomb on Sunday.

The bomb was uncovered last week during construction work in the city's historic central district. Police said Christmas Day was the best time to defuse it because there is less traffic and it is more likely people can stay with relatives.

Police rang doorbells and used vans with loudspeakers to urge procrastinators to leave ahead of a 10 a.m. deadline. Traffic into the evacuation zone was halted from 8 a.m. local time.

Some 32,000 homes with 54,000 residents were in the evacuation zone. Christmas morning services at the local medieval cathedral, with its famed boys' choir, were moved to another church.

Schools and sports facilities were opened as shelters, but police said they were not full and many people had already left for relatives' homes Christmas Eve. About 200 people came to the town's exhibition centre, and 100 to the WWK Arena sports stadium. Public transportation was free of charge for the evacuation.

Around 7 p.m., city police tweetedthey had "good news at Christmas" after explosives experts finished their work, clearing the way for evacuees to return.

Finding Second World War bombs is not unusual in Germany. Much of Augsburg's historic centre was destroyed on Feb. 25-26, 1944, when hundreds of British and U.S. bombers attacked the city.