Thousands of people were evacuated from central Cologne in western Germany on Wednesday following the discovery of three wartime bombs, in what the city authority called the largest such operation since the end of World War Two.

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,