[Ngo-lwg] World War II bomb in London: hundreds go home after device defused

Chuck Searcy chuckusvn at gmail.com
Wed Aug 12 06:09:48 ICT 2015


*The Guardian*
<http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/11/bethnal-green-second-world-war-bomb-hundreds-home-device-defused>
Tuesday 11 August 2015
Bethnal Green second world war bomb: hundreds go home after device defused

*Discovery of 500lb German bomb in east London on Monday led to 700 people
being evacuated but it has now been safely removed*
[image: Unexploded second world war bomb discovered at a building site in
Bethnal Green]
<http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/11/bethnal-green-second-world-war-bomb-hundreds-home-device-defused#img-1>

*A military expert examines the unexploded second world war bomb discovered
in Bethnal Green on Monday. Photograph: Reuters *

By Nadia Khomami <http://www.theguardian.com/profile/nadia-khomami>

Hundreds of residents in east London <http://www.theguardian.com/uk/london>
have been allowed to return to their homes after an army unit spent more
than a day defusing a second world war bomb found on a building site.

The 500lb German bomb was discovered by contractors in the basement of a
property on Temple Street in Bethnal Green at lunchtime on Monday. Police
put in place a 200-metre hazard zone and evacuated 700 people
<http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/11/hundreds-evacuated-in-bethnal-green-after-second-world-war-bomb-discovery>
from local houses and businesses.

Experts from the Ministry of Defence
<http://www.theguardian.com/uk/ministry-of-defence> arrived at the site at
around 5pm to defuse the device and continued to work throughout Monday
night and Tuesday morning. Families were evacuated to nearby Bethnal Green
academy, where Tower Hamlets council had set up a rest centre with beds,
food, drinks and washbags.

On Tuesday, the mayor of Tower Hamlets, John Biggs, said: “I am pleased to
announce that residents can return home as the unexploded bomb has been
safely removed and defused. Many thanks to the emergency services who
worked tirelessly with us to make the area safe as soon as possible.

“My thanks also go out to our residents who have been incredibly patient
and understanding throughout this incident.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Matthew Burroughs, a station manager for the London
fire brigade, said the process was proving difficult because of the
location of the bomb. “It’s in the basement of a property. All the disposal
unit can do is make it reasonably safe, but they’ve then got to get the
bomb out. It’s hoped at some time today the bomb will be removed from the
property, but it’s difficult because we can’t just carry it out the
doorway, it’s a 500lb bomb,” he said.

One resident, Glynn Russell, said: “I found out I couldn’t get home at
around midnight. Police told me to come to the school. I stayed awake all
night because I couldn’t sleep. I just spoke to my neighbour. It wasn’t
very comfortable but staff did their best.

“There were canvas metal bed frames for everyone, like camping beds. People
were concerned about getting home to their clothes and medication. I don’t
think I’ll be going in to work today. I’ve been up for 24 hours.”

Students from the school volunteered to help. Jake Hamilton, 14, said: “I
felt sorry for the people who have been evacuated so we decided to come and
support them.”

His mother, Mary Hamilton, added: “We heard about the bomb last night and
came to the school around 9pm to see what’s going on. We’ve been up all
night.”

An MoD spokesman said that a specialist military bomb disposal team from 11
EOD Regiment, Royal Logistics Corps, helped defuse the bomb. Earlier this
year, the squadron defused similar bombs in Bermondsey, south London
<http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/25/bermondsey-bomb-destroyed-controlled-explosion>,
Wembley in the north-west of the city and in White City, west London.

*=========================================*
*CHUCK SEARCY*
*International Advisor, Project RENEW*

*Vice President, Veterans For Peace  Chapter 160**Co-Chair, NGO Agent
Orange Working Group*

*US    +1 404 740 0653*
*VN    +8 490 342 0769*
*E       chuckusvn at gmail.com <chuckusvn at gmail.com>*
*Sk     chucksearcy*
*=========================================*
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