Berlin Airport Closed after WWII-Era Bomb Found

The discovery of a British bomb from World War II shut down Berlin's main international airport for several hours on Wednesday, police said.

The bomb, which weighed about one-quarter of a ton — was successfully defused by police specialists, spokesman Michael Merkle told The Associated Press.

Authorities shut down Tegel airport immediately after construction workers discovered the explosive device.

Local media reported hundreds of passengers had to be evacuated from the terminal buildings.

For about two hours no planes were allowed to land or take off, affecting some 40 to 50 flights, the German news agency DDP reported.

While a few outbound flights were canceled, inbound flights were mostly diverted to the city's Schoenefeld airport, Lufthansa spokesman Wolgang Weber told the AP.

Tegel handled 14.2 million passengers last year, according to the airport's Web site. Schoenefeld handled 6.6 million passengers last year.