World War II bomb at Frankfurt Airport: Major evacuation and defusing!

World War II bomb at Frankfurt Airport: Major evacuation and defusing!

On Tuesday, September 10, 2025, a bomb discovery in the south of Frankfurt Airport caused a stir. A World War II bomb was discovered during construction work, which led to extensive deployment of the Frankfurt fire department and the explosive ordnance disposal service. The authorities reacted quickly and set up a 500 meter exclusion radius around the site. This meant that the nearby Intercity Hotel had to be evacuated and the A5 motorway as well as the Center and Südbahn were completely closed during the defusing.

This meant a lot of inconvenience for the passengers. Although flight operations were not disrupted due to nighttime noise protection, the airport operator Fraport recommended always checking the flight status before arrival and planning for delays if necessary. The traffic flow on the A5 between the Frankfurter Kreuz and Langen was particularly affected, where diversions were set up for the duration of the defusing.

Successful defusing at night

The bomb was finally successfully defused on Tuesday evening at 11:39 p.m. The operation went smoothly and once the work was completed, the closed roads were reopened to traffic before midnight. This happy ending was not always a given, as defusing ammunition is particularly delicate. Thomas Meuter, an expert in this field, warns that there are still over a million tons of unexploded ammunition lying beneath our feet worldwide. In Germany alone, experts estimate that there are still between 100,000 and 300,000 tons of bombs in the ground, which constantly pose a latent danger.

Soil investigations and contaminated sites

The problem of unexploded ammunition is by no means new. After almost 80 years of the post-war period, work is still being done in Germany to clear these contaminated sites. These problems are not limited to Germany; Globally, there are similar challenges in countries such as Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. According to reports, thousands of people are injured or killed every year by mines and old munitions, which are sometimes even found in urban areas. However, it takes considerable effort to eliminate these dangers. Many countries lack the resources to effectively solve the problems, which is why many dangerous remnants of the wars remain uncleared.

The case at Frankfurt Airport underlines the importance of well-organized defusing and the expertise that is necessary. Specialists who are trained in Germany at the explosives school in Dresden know the challenges associated with the analysis and recovery of ammunition. Ultimately, the safety of the population is the top priority, which always requires a detailed plan and precise coordination.

In Hesse, the population remains vigilant, because even if such discoveries fortunately usually occur without incident, the invisibility of these war remnants remains a constant danger.