By This is not a test. This is a video of an actual World War II-era, American-made bomb going off in the center of Munich, Germany.
According to its description on YouTube, the explosive was discovered on Monday night by workers at the site of a building that was being demolished. Officials realized that the 550-pound explosive could not be defused, and decided on a controlled detonation. In addition, the report notes:
Overnight, 2,500 residents were evacuated from the area closest to the bomb, with others living further away being told to stay in their homes.
Experts decided it was not possible to make the device safe because of its unusual fuse, which operated by means of a chemical reaction rather than the mechanical device that many Allied World War II bombs used.
Spiegel noted that the explosion blew out windows, caused some rooftops to catch on fire, and half of one house to collapse. But there are no reports of injuries. But this will certainly not be the last blast associated with a bomb from the past.
A bomb expert told the publication, "Unexploded bombs are becoming more dangerous by the day through material fatigue as a result of aging and through erosion of safety elements in the trigger mechanisms."
The video shows a spectacular explosion lighting up the night sky in a city neighborhood dense with buildings.