Germany WWII bomb blast kills one

An excavator driver in Germany has been killed after the machine triggered a buried World War II bomb.

A partially destroyed digger in Euskirchen, Germany

An excavator driver in Germany has been killed after a buried World War II bomb exploded. (AAP)

The driver of an excavator has been killed and eight other people injured after a World War II-era bomb blew up during earthworks in Germany.

The blast wave from the sleeper bomb on Friday blew out the windows of surrounding buildings and could be felt for several kilometres, police and residents said.

The accident, in which two of the wounded suffered serious injuries, shook an industrial area in the town of Euskirchen near the former capital Bonn in western Germany.

"During earth works an excavator hit a World War II bomb which exploded," a local police spokesman told AFP.

"There was a huge blast wave. In the vicinity of the accident site and surrounding streets, home windows shattered and garage doors were pushed in."

The ground below many Germany cities still contains unexploded ordnance dropped by Allied and Soviet forces in the Second World War, but most is safely defused when found.


Share

1 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world