BERLIN – German security officials in the wee hours of Thursday defused a500-kilogram World War II bomb discovered during recent construction in thecountry’s financial capital Frankfurt.

Reports of German media cited that 25,000 local residents were evacuatedfrom the area. The massive bomb was found during construction work in thedensely populated area.

The location of the bomb is right next to a children’s playground at adepth of about 6.5 feet.

The authorities covered the bomb with 40 truckloads of sand beforedetonating it in the controlled blast. The blast is said to be sounded likethunder rumbling which left a crack three meters deep and ten meters wide.

At least seven giant bombs were defused last year near Berlin. Earlier in2017, the discovery of a 1.4-tonne bomb in Frankfurt led to the removal of65,000 people, the biggest such evacuation in Europe since 1945.