Tens of Thousands Evacuated in Italy as WWII Bomb Defused

The British bomb, one-meter long and weighing 200 kilograms, was found on November 2 during work on a cinema.

The device was damaged by the workers’ equipment, making the operation trickier.

All residents within a 1.5-kilometer radius were evacuated, and gas supplies were cut in homes within 500 meters of the site, AFP reported.

Some air traffic and rail services were also suspended.

More than 1,000 members of the security forces and around 250 volunteers took part in the evacuation operation.

The AGI news agency said the evacuation of more than half Brindisi’s population of some 87,000 began on Saturday with the transfer of 217 prisoners to other detention facilities.