A World War II bomb was found on a construction site in Berlin-Friedrichshain on Thursday afternoon. It was discovered around 11:45 a.m. and is located on the corner of Persiusstrasse and Bödickerstrasse, between the Spree and Ostkreuz train station. The area is cordoned off.
In the afternoon, the police began to set up a 500-meter exclusion zone around the site. In this area, all buildings would be evacuated, including a school and several daycare centers.
Residents should evacuate their homes near the site. “You will help the emergency services on site if you are already leaving the area on your own,” the police tweeted. According to the police, it is not yet clear how many people will be affected.
Traffic is also affected. According to the traffic information center, Stralauer Allee is affected in both directions between Modersohnstrasse and Elsenbrücke – as well as Elsenstrasse, Alt-Stralau, Markgrafendamm, Hauptstrasse, Kynaststrasse, Corinthstrasse, Bossestrasse and Rochwowstrasse. Motorists are asked to drive around the area.
After the discovery of the 500-kilogram bomb from the Second World War, the Federal Police began clearing the Ostkreuz train station at noon, but then stopped again. The trains of the S-Bahn lines S41, S42, S3, S5, S7, S75 and S85 sometimes ran through Ostkreuz. “The S-Bahn will stop again until the evacuation actually begins,” a federal police spokesman told the Tagesspiegel. “However, long-distance and regional traffic will be diverted.”
You are waiting for a signal from the forensic technicians, who are currently on site to get an overview of the situation. In the course of the afternoon, either the Ostkreuz stop could be canceled again or the S-Bahn traffic could be completely interrupted.
It will be checked whether the bomb is transportable or whether it has to be detonated on site. It also had to be clarified where the bomb could be taken to if it could be transported after it had been defuse. Because after the big fire in the Grundwald, the police blast site there was damaged.
