Wrocław evacuates 3,000 residents after WWII bomb found during earthworks
A mandatory evacuation of around 3,000 residents is underway in Wrocław's Szczepin district after a WWII-era unexploded bomb was unearthed during construction work on Trzemeska Street.
Evacuation underway
Around 3,000 residents of Wrocław's Szczepin district began a mandatory evacuation on Tuesday morning after construction workers unearthed a World War II-era unexploded bomb on Trzemeska Street. The pre-emptive measure, ordered by the city's crisis management authority, covers a 300-metre radius around the find. City guards had distributed leaflets and informed residents door-to-door on Monday evening. Police vehicles with loudspeakers circulated through the affected streets from 7:30 AM, instructing people to leave their homes by the 8:30 AM deadline.
By 8:30 AM at the latest, the area must be completely vacated by residents and bystanders. After that time, only the services conducting the operation will have access.
Removing an unexploded bomb requires designating an evacuation zone and temporarily clearing the area. This is standard procedure aimed at ensuring safety.
Timeline and logistics
The evacuation zone encompasses ten streets: Braniborska, Marchijska, Ziemowita, Legnicka, Trzemeska, Dobra, Młodych Techników, Inowrocławska, Kruszwicka, and Szczepińska. Residents were told to take identity documents, phones, and essential medicines, and to close windows and doors before leaving. A temporary shelter has been set up at Primary School No. 14 on Zachodnia Street. For those unable to walk, free MPK transport runs from the Legnicka/Młodych Techników stop to the school.
Residents and users of these buildings have already been informed, or are being informed, by the relevant services about the need to leave the zone. Please follow the instructions given — these actions are preventive and serve to ensure safety.
After the 8:30 AM deadline, only emergency services are permitted inside the cordon. A sapper patrol is expected to arrive shortly afterward to remove the device and transport it to a military training ground for neutralisation.
- Police begin informing residents; traffic disruptions start.
- Evacuation deadline; area cleared of civilians.
- Patrol saperski arrives to remove the bomb.
- Bomb taken to military training ground for neutralisation.
Transport disruptions
The operation has caused significant changes to public transport. Tram services are diverted via Długa and Popowicka streets, while buses bypass Legnicka Street, running instead through Długa, Poznańska, and Plac Strzegomski. Legnicka Street and the bus-and-tram route to Nowy Dwór are closed entirely. City officials said the disruptions will be lifted as soon as the sapper work is complete.
Schools and kindergartens
Two kindergartens lie within the evacuation zone. Przedszkole nr 41 on Dobra Street is on a scheduled summer break and unaffected. Children and staff from Przedszkole nr 99 on Inowrocławska Street, however, have been relocated to Przedszkole nr 105 at the School and Preschool Complex No. 18 on Poznańska Street from 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM. Parents were notified in advance.
A familiar hazard
Unexploded ordnance from World War II is a recurring discovery in Wrocław, a city that saw heavy fighting in 1945. TVN24 reporter Olga Mildyn noted that while older buildings were constructed with shallower foundations, modern projects dig deeper, unearthing bombs that had lain undisturbed for decades. The city's crisis management office emphasised that such evacuations are routine and carried out strictly as a precaution.
