Experts Defuse World War II Bomb At Berlin Train Station

Experts successfully defused a 100 Kg World War II bomb not far from Berlin's main train station, a police spokesman said on Wednesday, hours after its discovery sparked house evacuations and disrupted rail service.
The bomb squad removed the Soviet explosive's fuse rather than detonating it on site in the area of Heidestrasse, about 1.5 Km from the station and a short distance from federal government buildings such as the parliament and chancellery.
Some 50 regional and long-distance trains were diverted beginning on Wednesday, and traffic on a canal to Berlin's Spandau district was stopped as bomb disposal experts prepared to disarm the explosive.
The train station, which remained opened throughout, resumed normal operations shortly.
The S-Bahn, the local above-ground commuter train network, was not affected.
A security zone of up to 400 metres from the bomb had been cleared.
Police said they expected residents living in the area to be allowed to return home later in the day.
The bomb was uncovered on Tuesday during construction of a new commuter rail line.
Dozens of World War II bombs are unearthed in Germany each year, causing wide-scale clearances before they are removed or detonated in controlled explosions.
The controlled explosion last year of a 250 Kg World War II bomb discovered in the centre of Munich gutted shops, damaged roofs of nearby apartments and smashed windows.