Residents in Marzahn are asked to leave their homes Photo: Michael Körner
By Pauline von Pezold
Bomb disposal three hours late! Because the evacuation of the 15,300 people affected in the restricted area in Berlin-Marzahn took longer, the specialists were only able to start their work shortly before 3 p.m. on Thursday.
It “is expected to take 2 to 3 hours,” police said on Twitter. Around 350 members of the Berlin police were involved in the evacuation. The World War II bomb (500 kilos) was discovered by workers on Tuesday on a tennis court on Geraer Ring.
Silvia (63), who had to leave her apartment and spends the day in one of the emergency shelters, is disappointed with the communication. “An 80-year-old couple lives above me, they didn’t know anything,” she says. Her neighbors would spend the day on the tram, doing “a little tour”. Photo: Michael Körner
Those who cannot spontaneously find somewhere else gather in the emergency quarters: families, the elderly or the sick. Seven people in need of care from a residential home for dementia patients also sought protection here. A nursing assistant to BZ: “We have no information on how long this will take.”
The evacuation is particularly hard for Frank (62). “I’m sick, I have to eat six times a day – and there’s nothing here,” he says. However, the volunteers from the DLRG who look after the emergency shelters are already organizing something to eat Photo: Michael Körner
The evacuation for the residents of Trusetaler Straße came as a surprise. On the Internet it was said that the road forms the border of the restricted area. There were also no notices on the front doors. “Now all of a sudden we have to get out too,” says Christoph. He doesn’t yet know where he will spend his day, “probably somewhere out there”.
Neighbor Katja Müller (38) confirms: “There was a knock on my door ten minutes ago, we didn’t know anything.” She had to take her little daughter to work.
The World War II bomb was successfully defused shortly after 6 p.m. on Thursday evening. Around 6:30 p.m., all closures were lifted and residents were able to return to their apartments.