Thousands of people were evacuated from central Cologne in western Germany on Wednesday following the discovery of three wartime bombs, in what the city authority called the largest such operation since the end of World War Two.

Buildings across the center of the western city of Cologne have been evacuated after the discovery of three WWII bombs. The defusing operation had to be delayed due to a recalcitrant resident. Large areas of the city center of Cologne were closed off on Wednesday as experts prepared to defuse three bombs left over from World War II,