An unexploded bomb left over from World War II finally detonated late yesterday in Germany, killing one person and injuring at least thirteen other people. Nearly 70 years after hostilities ceased, the ghosts of generations past still prove to be deadly.


The man who was killed was a bulldozer driver at a rubble storage site in the western German town of Euskirchen, just south of Cologne, according to the Global Post:

"During earth works an excavator hit a World War II bomb which exploded," a local police spokesman told AFP.

"There was a huge blast wave. In the vicinity of the accident site and surrounding streets, home windows shattered and garage doors were pushed in."

The rubble was being recycled for construction.

Over two million tons of bombs were dropped from planes during World War II. Finding unexploded ordinance from the last global conflict isn't uncommon, and the bombs remain incredibly dangerous despite the years. Back in August of 2012, hundreds of people had to be evacuated from the center of Munich so that authorities could detonate a 550 pounder. A year before that, a similar situation occurred in the city of Koblenz.

Photo via UK Ministry of Defence