Before a World War II bomb was detonated near the Teslafactory in Grünheide, the area around the site where it was found has been cleared. All people who had to leave the area for the planned demolition that afternoon did so, the head of the Grünheide public order office, Nico Bauermeister, told the German Press Agency on Saturday morning. The technical preparations begin to detonate the 250 kilogram bomb in a controlled manner. This could take four to five hours. The restricted area is not expected to be lifted until later in the afternoon.
Several nearby commercial areas had to be evacuated for the blast. Parts of the Tesla factory are also affected. The extent to which this would affect production initially remained unclear on Saturday.
No impact on the Tesla protest camp
The “English-made” bomb was reported to the community of Grünheide on Wednesday by the explosive ordnance disposal service. It is considered untransportable and is therefore blown up.
The bomb discovery is initially said to have no impact to the nearby Tesla protest camp which is located in the same forest. Since the end of February, environmental activists in the forest have been protesting against the expansion of the Tesla site with a small settlement of tree houses and tents.