Large area of Berlin center evacuated for WWII bomb disposal

Members of the security staff walk down stairs at the main train station in Berlin, Germany, Friday, April 20, 2018. Berlin police are evacuating thousands from a central area of the German capital and shutting down the main train station in preparation for the removal of an unexploded World War II bomb found during recent construction work. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

BERLIN — Berlin police are evacuating thousands from a central area of the German capital and shutting down the main train station in preparation for the removal of an unexploded World War II bomb found during recent construction work.

Police said on Friday that some 10,000 residents and workers were being forced to leave a two-square-kilometer (almost a square mile) area, including the train station, for bomb experts to defuse the 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) British bomb dropped during the war.

German rail operator Deutsche Bahn said train stops at the busy station would end at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. through traffic will also be shut down before experts begin their work. It was not clear how long it would take.

Even 73 years after the end of the war, such discoveries are common in major cities in Germany. /kga