Authorities in Cologne said this was the largest evacuation of the city since World War II. Unexploded ordnance has commonly been found across Europe.

Authorities in the German city of Cologne have defused three unexploded World War Two bombs after the evacuation of more than 20,000 people. Bomb squad technicians deactivated the American bombs on Wednesday after evacuating an area of around 10,000 sq m (107,639 sq ft) following their discovery in a shipyard in Deutz on Monday.