Hamburg airport reopens after World War II-era bomb found in the area is defused
Hamburg Airport reopened Tuesday evening, after the travel hub was shut down for almost three hours while local emergency response teams defused a World War II-era bomb.
"Hamburg Airport just reopened," airport authorities said in a tweet at 10:49 p.m. local time. "The WW2 bomb in Hamburg-Schnelsen was successfully defused. All waiting flights can depart/land from now on. Please keep in contact with your airline regarding your current flight status."
Officials tweeted hours earlier at 7:57 p.m. local time, that the airspace above the airport was closed because of the discovery of the bomb in the Hamburg-Schnelsen section of the German city, therefore closing the airport.
At the time of the announcement, no flights were departing or arriving and there was no estimate for how long the airport and the airspace would remain shut down.
Aufgrund einer Bombenentschärfung ist der Luftraum über dem Flughafen Hamburg aktuell gesperrt. Es können keine Starts und Landungen stattfinden. Die Dauer ist derzeit nicht bekannt. Infos zu Streichungen erhalten Passagiere bei den Airlines: https://t.co/DGkTaAuBtq. pic.twitter.com/Y3XS7CDzTz
— Hamburg Airport (@HamburgAirport) October 16, 2019
In a follow-up tweet, the airport responded to a Twitter user asking about deactivating the bomb. Any defusing, the airport clarified, would be left up to the police. "Safety first," they added.
The Hamburg Police tweeted: "An old 'aircraft bomb' was found in #Niendorf during work by a specialized company."
The tweet also noted that they would be employing the help of the fire department and other organizations.
Meanwhile, the fire department advised on Twitter that anyone in Hamburg should follow "air-raid behavior." That means stay indoors, stay away from windows and as far from the danger point as possible. They also called for people to follow the instructions of emergency service operations.
This isn't the first time that a WWII-era bomb has threatened Hamburg nearly 75 years after the war ended. Last May, a 1,000-pound American-made bomb was found in the city and forced the evacuation of 6,000 people in the Heimfeld neighborhood.
In 1943, during Operation Gomorrah, which was the Allied bombing of Hamburg, the aftermath of bombs and the bombs themselves killed between 34,000 and 43,000 people, according to an article from the BBC.
Note: Some of the information in the tweets was electronically translated.
Follow Morgan Hines on Twitter: @MorganEmHines.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: World War II-era bomb defused; Hamburg airport reopens
