‘Welcome to Germany’ – SA tourist’s friends says as WW2 bomb defused

“Welcome to Germany‚” South African tourist Andre Neveling’s friend said to him after he was forced to evacuate his Frankfurt hotel room on Sunday morning after a late night.

Neveling was among thousands of people ordered to evacuate the area as experts defused a massive bomb from World War Two which had been discovered last week on a building site in Westend.

More than a 1‚000 emergency service personnel helped clear the area around the bomb.

About 60‚000 people were instructed to leave their homes by 8am. The police cordoned off a 1.5 km radius around the bomb.

More than 2‚000 tonnes of live bombs are annually discovered in Germany. British and American warplanes dropped 1.5 million tonnes of bombs over the country that killed 600‚000 people. Officials estimate 15% of the bombs failed to explode.

Neveling said the evacuation alarm at the Hilton Hotel they were staying in went off 30 minutes earlier than expected.

“We were out of that room so quickly. We did not take anything along. We just jumped out of bed.”

According to Neveling‚ the doors of patrons who did not want to evacuate their hotel rooms were unhinged.

Patrons were offered temporary accommodation at the Hilton Garden Inn close to the Frankfurt Airport‚ but Neveling decided to roam the city.

“It was a little bit traumatic to have a night out‚ getting little sleep and then all of a sudden you are on the streets. It was a difficult day. You walk from coffee shop to coffee shop.

“You just try to stay awake and enjoy a German beer every hour…. It is the only thing to keep the momentum.”

Neveling said the local radio station kept listeners up to date as the detonation continued.

“A lot of people gathered in pubs and the coffee shops…. Everyone knew and kept each other informed.”

Neveling said once they returned to the hotel‚ personnel were offering sparkling wine at the door.

“I think they were trying to say sorry.”

-With Reuters