Vagabond Journey.com Travelogue: Bomb in Budapest

Bomb Leaves Budapest Evacuated

15,000 residents were evacuated from a 1km radius in downtown Budapest earlier today due to the discovery of a two ton WWII bomb buried beneath the wreckage of a recently demolished mill.

"It was found after a mill was demolished in which people had worked for decades without knowing what was down there," Tamas Bansaghi, deputy mayor of the affected 9th district of Budapest, told Reuters.
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Wade from Vagabond Journey.com
in Budapest, Hungary- July 29, 2008
Travelogue -- Travel Photos
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Unaware to area residents, the two ton explosive laid fully active beneath the building since the Allies' bombing of Budapest in WWII.

"I lived right next to that building for four years and I had no idea that there was a bomb inside of it," one evacuated resident told Vagabond Journey.com.

Due to the possible threat of explosion, police removed 15,000 residents from their homes and transformed the ninth district of Budapest into a virtual ghost town. Specialists are expected to be diffusing the bomb well into the night, as it is planted under concrete deep in the ground and cannot be easily accessed.

Meanwhile, area residents will remain without access to their homes. But they remain hopeful, as one man related to Vagabond Journey.com, "We are happy that this was a WWII bomb rather than a Cold War one, because at least we do not have to worry about a nuclear explosion."

Schematics of the bomb that was found buried for more than five decades in the heart of Budapest. Taken from http://index.hu/politika/bulvar/bmbfrc7679/?p=1

Police barricade that surrounds the sixth district of Budapest. Photo by Vagabond Journey.com.

Evacuated residents unexpectedly caught out of their neighborhood. Photo by Vagabond Journey.com.

Bomb diffusion specialist working on the bomb. Photo from http://index.hu/politika/bulvar/bmbfrc7679/?p=1

-Reporting by Wade from Vagabond Journey.com, playing journalist and having fun

Links to previous travelogue entries:
Chinese Four Tigers Market in Budapest
The Lying Swede Portrait of a Misanthrope
Travel Cheap with Hobohideout.com