World War II bomb kills three in Germany

Three people have been killed and six injured trying to defuse a World War II bomb in central Germany.

Workers building a sports stadium had earlier unearthed the bomb in the town of Goettingen.

It was not immediately clear why the bomb, reportedly weighing 500kg (1,100lb), had detonated.

Source: BBC

It's a shame to see innocent people still being directly affected by the actions of past wars like this. No doubt there will be many innocent deaths over the next century, long after forces have left Iraq, Afganistan and many other countries.

The discovery of WWII ordinance is a very common event in Germany.

The war ended in 1945 and they are still locating bombs in Germany after 65 years !

My Dad grew up in Post WWII Germany and as a kid he lost several of his classmates due to undetonated left over WWII ordinance, most of which would be discovered deep in the forests Germany.

He told me that the bomb craters would fill with water and the kids would go swimming in them ....and yes they were that big !

It really demonstrates the sheer amount of tonnage of bombs that were dropped on Germany in WWII.

War sucks.

Yeah I read about this. Quite sad. It also reminds me of how many people are killed and maimed each year from hidden land mines. I can understand the utility of land mines in conflict, but the fact of the matter is that they continue to kill people long after the conflict is over. Unexploded bombs is almost the same thing. I've seen stories of bombs and shells from the First World War still killing people in France. There are also sea mines still floating around in the Baltic Sea. Once in a while a fisherman will get his net caught in one.

This happens on occasion in England as well as in Japan, usually from construction where they are discovered.

Yes, Sad and unfortunate.

I remember as a child strolling down the city roads with my parents on the way to the Mom and Pop bakery in Frankfurt A.M. where certain buildings were still bombed out.

Thanks,
Orangetom

Now the "positive" side to this is the extraordinariness of the tragic event, despite UXO being found and disarmed almost everyday in Germany. In the postwar decades it was sadly quite regular not only for disposal teams but also construction workers and playing children to get hurt, maimed and killed by these munitions.