Authorities in Cologne said this was the largest evacuation of the city since World War II. Unexploded ordnance has commonly been found across Europe.

The German city of Cologne is moving 20,500 people in its largest evacuation since World War II, after officials discovered three massive, unexploded bombs. The American bombs – two 20-ton weapons and another that weighs 10 tons – were found in a shipyard on Monday,

More than 20,000 people were being evacuated from central Cologne after three unexploded World War II bombs were found, the biggest such operation in the German city since the end of the war.