Sign reminding residents of Claes de Vrieselaan of a WWII dismantling on 30 May 2024

Thursday, 30 May 2024 - 08:33

1,100 Rotterdam residents locked out of home today as authorities dismantle WWII bomb

Around 1,100 Rotterdam residents living on or around Claes de Vrieselaan are locked out of their homes today while the Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) dismantles an English aircraft bomb from the Second World War. The neighborhood is closed to the public from 8:00 a.m. The EOD expects to be done at 8:00 p.m. at the latest.

At 8:00 a.m., the police started checking each of the around 700 homes in the cordoned-off area. If they suspect anyone is at home, they’ll go inside and remove them. The municipality of Rotterdam arranged a hotel for everyone who couldn’t find alternative shelter for the day. And the Animal Ambulance is on-site to take in any pets with nowhere else to go.

The municipality stressed that the chance of anything going wrong when defusing the unexploded bomb is “very small,” but it and the EOD want to avoid any risk.

The bomb dates from 1941 and is about eight meters underground at Claes de Vrieslaan 27. Jan Booister (76) has been living on top of the bomb for years. He didn’t know anything about the WWII bomb when he moved in, he told Rijnmond. A neighbor eventually informed him.

Local resident Jochem called it “irritating” that they have to leave their home today. “You don’t know how long it will take,” he laughingly told Rijnmond. “You only experience this once. It breaks the routine. It is annoying to have to go ‘camping’ somewhere in the afternoon with the children, to wait. That is not nice. But it will be okay. We have found something.”

Marieke told the regional broadcaster that she had packed her toothbrush, just in case. “I leave everything in the car. Then I go to work, and a neighbor will text me if we can go home earlier. I secretly hope so, but otherwise, we will go out for dinner.”

Historical research shows that there are unexploded WWII bombs in over 200 places in Rotterdam. The last time the authorities dismantled one was on 27 March 1998. Thousands of Rotterdam residents were evacuated at the time.