Some 20,500 people were being evacuated from the city of Cologne, in western Germany, as explosives experts prepared to defuse three unexploded World War II bombs found during construction work this week.

Three unexploded U.S. bombs from World War II were defused on Wednesday in Cologne after the German city's biggest evacuation since the end of the war.

The German city of Cologne is moving 20,500 people in its largest evacuation since World War II, after officials discovered three massive, unexploded bombs.