Cologne Cathedral and a bridge over the Rhine River, with a security perimeter in the foreground.
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UP to 20,000 people have been forced to evacuate a historic European city after three unexploded WWII bombs were discovered.

Large parts of Cologne’s city centre, including hospitals, care homes and a hotel, were all cordoned off as experts defused the explosives.
Cologne Cathedral and a bridge over the Rhine River, with a security perimeter in the foreground.

Large parts of Cologne’s city centre, including hospitals, care homes and a hotel, were all cordoned off as experts defused three explosivesCredit: Alamy
A fenced-off area where unexploded World War II bombs are being defused.

One of the bomb sites was cordoned off by large white fencesCredit: Alamy
Public order office employees explaining road closures due to a bomb disposal operation.

People were stopping people from entering much of the historic cityCredit: Alamy

Police made sure to clear the entire 3,200ft “danger zone” which sat in the potential blast radius.

This left several schools, kindergartens, museums and even the local tram network being shut down for hours on Tuesday.

Three bridges over the famous river Rhine were also out of use.

The bombs were all US-manufactured weapons from over 80 years ago.

Two were 90kg bombs with the third being a smaller 45 kg weapon.

It marked the largest evacuation of residents in the area since WW2.
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