A controlled detonation has been carried out on an unexploded World War Two bomb that had been discovered in Exeter. More than 2,600 homes as well as the University of Exeter residences were evacuated after the unexploded bomb from World War Two was found on Glenthorne Road on Friday, 26th February.
Police arrived after it being reported and declared the situation as a major incident and put up an initial 100 metre cordon which was later extended to 400m to reduce damage and protect the scene. Bomb disposal experts then arrived and used 400 tonnes of sand to create an enclosing "box" around the bomb before it was made safe later that day.
Around 1,400 students were safely evacuated from the halls of residence after the bomb was found by a group of builders on private land next to the campus on Friday.
The police have said that bomb disposal crews "worked through the night to establish a walled mitigation structure" and also that they had been expecting for there to be "a big bang" heard "quite a distance across Exeter" during the operation to make it safe.
Due to the fast and efficient response to this unexploded bomb being found, there were no casualties and residents of the area are able to return back to their homes and continue with their daily lives. If the builders had not found the bomb and the response of the bomb disposal crews and police weren’t as fast it could’ve been worse than needed.
