WWII bomb defused in German city of Freiburg

Explosive ordnance disposal experts successfully defused a 500-kilo aerial bomb from World War II in the southern German city of Freiburg on Saturday, reported dpa.

Buildings within a 500-metre radius of the site had to be evacuated and access roads were closed. An overall 4,000 people were relocated, along with around 150 patients of the city's university hospital.

All residents were able to return to their houses and flats afterwards, the city and the police announced.

The municipality spoke of one of the largest evacuation operations in the Black Forest city in recent decades.

The war relic had been found on Wednesday during construction work on a road directly adjacent to the university hospital. According to the assessment of the explosive ordnance disposal service, the US bomb had not presented an acute danger.

Germany is fairly accustomed to finding unexploded World War II ordnance. Most are defused by bomb disposal experts without incident.