Cologne authorities are evacuating around 20,500 individuals from the German city's center to allow experts to defuse unexploded World War II bombs that were unearthed there on June 2.
Unexploded bombs may pose a risk to residents, and so the local government has closed off an area within a 1,000-meter (3,280-ft) radius of the bombs' discovery. The operation is being hailed as "the largest operation since the end of World War II."
Shops, schools, hotels, and people’s homes are under order to be evacuated. In the event of non-compliance, residents may face heavy fines and be escorted by force.
The bomb disposal service workers are to diffuse the 10-tonne and 20-tonne bombs once everyone is evacuated safely from the area.
But what do we know about bomb disposal, really? Many consider it one of the most hazardous jobs in the world, with safety never guaranteed. In fact, it's a profession that could get you killed. Yet the role of a bomb disposal expert is an essential one, the aim being to render an explosive ordnance device inert without causing it to detonate.
Bomb disposal dates back to the 19th century, but was only formalized at the outbreak of the First World War. And while today methods and techniques of making safe a bomb disposal are highly sophisticated, so too are the munitions designed to end lives. So, just how dangerous is explosive ordnance disposal, and what does it take to defuse a potential disaster?
Click through this gallery and learn more about this unique and perilous occupation.