Residents were evacuated from approximately 1,200 homes in a densely populated London neighborhood on Tuesday, as bomb disposal experts worked to defuse a 455kg bomb from World War II.
The local council said it had lodged 80 people in hotels overnight and was serving hot food and drinks at a sports center and a local library, as well as providing activities for children.
“There’s been a sense of the Blitz spirit,” said Louise Neilan, a council spokeswoman in Southwark, located on the south bank of the River Thames. “We’ve been trying to reassure people.”
Southwark was an industrial and commercial hub that was badly destroyed during the Blitz, a German aerial campaign on Britain in 1940 and 1941 that killed about 20,000 civilians in London alone, and was intended to cripple the nation into surrender.
Several police vans and ambulances could be seen in the area, and three schools were shut.
Residents at the centers being run by the Red Cross for evacuees said that they were using the opportunity to get to know each other.
“When I first heard about it, I thought it was a joke, but when I saw the police, I realized it was serious,” said Juliana Ayeni, 32, a care worker.
“Before, nobody talks to each other, but after what’s happened, people just realize life’s too short, let’s just mingle,” she said.
Paul Carriere, 76, a retired sports teacher, said: “When you look at the world where we live, there’s a lot worse than this.”
“We’re all chatting and laughing. That’s what we’re doing. That’s what life is all about,” he said.
The huge bomb was found by workers on a building site on Monday and an initial 100m security cordon set up in the area was later widened to 400m as an army bomb disposal team moved in.
The London Fire Brigade said seven unexploded bombs were discovered between 2009 and last year, but rapid large-scale evacuations like the one seen in Southwark on Monday and Tuesday are rare.
Southwark councilor Lucas Green on Monday said that the bomb was buried 2m to 3m underground and still had its tail fin intact.
The official advised residents to open their windows and keep their curtains drawn in case of a blast, to limit the potential danger from broken glass.
However, 41-year-old charity worker Melina Kakoulidis said she was “more excited than anything else.”
“I’m very interested in World War I and World War II. For me, it’s more a learning experience,” Kakoulidis added.
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