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Berlin Lifts Central Evacuation After River Bomb Deemed Safe as Spandau Defusal Nears

The underwater find in the Spree prompted precautionary evacuations because silt-covered devices are difficult to assess on site.

Overview

  • Police set a 500-meter exclusion zone around the Spree near Fischerinsel and went door to door, ordering roughly 10,000 people to leave their homes.
  • Early Friday authorities gave the all-clear for the river device, saying it posed no danger and did not require defusal, allowing residents in Mitte to return.
  • In Spandau, a separate 100-kilogram bomb discovered Wednesday remains cordoned off and is slated for defusal, with about 12,400 residents evacuated and the site under guard.
  • Emergency shelters opened at the Mitte town hall and a nearby school to handle long queues of displaced residents as officers managed overnight accommodations.
  • Ship traffic on the Spree, several streets, and service on subway line 2 were halted overnight, and media reports varied on total evacuee counts across both incidents.