Thousands evacuated from Poland town after unexploded WWII bomb discovered

Some 14,000 residents of town of Lublin eventually allowed to return after bomb is removed

Residents in Lublin, Poland, must be evacuated before the bomb can be neutralised (NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Thousands of people were forced to evacuate from a town in Poland after the discovery of a massive unexploded bomb believed to date back to the Second World War.

Some 14,000 people were forced to leave their homes in the eastern town of Lublin on Friday after the bomb was uncovered by a construction worker.

City authorities said later on Friday that the bomb had been successfully removed and residents could return home. Military engineers then took the bomb away for neutralisation, according to town hall spokesperson Katarzyna Duma.

Roads in the area had been closed and residents were taken to safety in schools and other large buildings, Ms Duma said earlier in the day. The police, Territorial Defence troops and city transport had helped with the evacuation.

Residents were urged to turn off gas, water and electricity in their homes, close the windows and doors and take their IDs and necessary medication with them.

Builders uncovered the bomb, weighing a quarter of a ton, buried in the ground during works on a new residential area on Thursday.

There was a Polish airplane factory and an airport there before the Second World War that could have been the target of wartime bombings.

It was also the site of a prison and labour camp under Nazi German occupation.

Such bombs are still regularly found during earthworks in Poland, which was the site of heavy fighting.

Affected parts of the city were closed to traffic from 11.30am local time (9.30am GMT) and public transport was rerouted, the office said. It began to return to normal on Friday afternoon

This article was amended on 14 August 2023 as it originally featured a photograph of German, not Polish, police.