German city spared disruption over suspected bomb

[March 26, 2012]  BERLIN (AP) -- German authorities have scrapped plans to cordon off part of the city of Stuttgart and shut its main station after discovering a suspected World War II bomb was actually an old water pipe.

Officials had announced that the station, a major railway hub, would be shut for several hours Sunday while experts defused the bomb, found in a nearby park.

But city police said experts -- on closer examination early Sunday -- had determined the object was actually a cast-iron pipe that wasn't marked on any map.

That meant authorities no longer needed to evacuate a 355-yard (325-meter) radius around the site or ask local residents to leave.

Unexploded World War II bombs are still found frequently in Germany, sometimes leading to large-scale evacuations as a precaution.

[Associated Press]

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