The World War II bomb lies on a path after divers from the Berlin police brought it ashore.
© dpa
All-clear in Berlin-Mitte: According to experts, a firebomb discovered on Fischerinsel in the River Spree is not dangerous.
The World War II bomb that was discovered in the River Spree in Mitte on Thursday is not classified as dangerous. "We can give the all-clear," a spokesperson for the Berlin police told the German Press Agency.
"There is no longer any danger. The bomb does not need to be defused." It is to be removed from the Spree and then disposed of properly. "The incendiary bomb was categorised as non-hazardous during the assessment," said the spokesperson. Divers had inspected the bomb in the early morning. The area around the discovery site on Fischerinsel was cordoned off and several thousand people had to leave their homes.
Around midnight, the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance issued a public warning and asked everyone to leave the restricted area. For people who were unable to stay with relatives or friends, the Mitte district office had set up emergency accommodation in the Mitte town hall.
The unexploded bomb was discovered during construction work at the Mühlendamm lock on Fischerinsel. As a result, shipping traffic on the Spree was interrupted. Fischerinsel was once part of the oldest part of the medieval town of Cölln. Although little remains of the buildings from that time, the neighbourhood in the southern part of the Spree island in Mitte is visited by many tourists.
In Spandau, a restricted area is to be set up at 8 a.m. around the site where a 100-kilogram World War II bomb was found. Part of the Havel River will also be closed off. Emergency accommodation has been set up in a gymnasium for people who cannot stay with relatives or friends. Further information on the bomb disposal in Spandau.