See the 'Spectacular' Controlled Explosion of a WWII Bomb Found in Munich

A bomb from World War II found in Munich, unable to be defused, was detonated in a controlled explosion Tuesday night.

The 550-pound bomb was found buried about three feet underground on Monday by a construction crew, according to Spiegel Online. Prior to detonation, 2,500 people in the area were evacuated, vehicles removed and streets closed. Even those outside the evacuation area were told to stay inside, if possible.

Luckily for onlookers the officials decided to detonate the bomb at 10 p.m., giving it the best view as the blast went up into the night sky.

Watch the explosion for yourself:

Spiegel reports no injuries occurred in the detonation, although almost all the windows in the immediate vicinity were shattered:

The explosion was heard across the city. Clumps of hay, from the bails authorities stacked around the site in an effort to reduce the explosive concussion, caught fire in the blast and drifted onto surrounding rooftops. The blazes were quickly extinguished and damage was minor, the fire department said.

"It looked quite spectacular," a fire department spokesperson said according to Spiegel.

This footage uploaded by the Associated Press includes the blast and a look at the aftermath and cleanup:

Officials speculate this will not be the last leftover bomb in Munich:

 Tens of thousands of unexploded bombs are thought to still lie undiscovered in German cities, leftover from the Allied bombing raids that demolished the country's metropolitan areas in World War II. Officials in Munich estimate that there are some 2,500 bombs buried in the Bavarian capital alone. There have been four significant discoveries of unexploded ordnance in the city this year. Just one week ago, officials in Nuremberg succeeded in defusing a similar 250-kilogram bomb.

Experts say that the undiscovered bombs in Germany become more dangerous with each passing year. Last year, a former bomb disposal chief told SPIEGEL ONLINE that "unexploded bombs are becoming more dangerous by the day through material fatigue as a result of ageing and through erosion of safety elements in the trigger mechanisms."

In a similar instance Tuesday in Warsaw, a 1.5 ton bomb was found, resulting in the evacuation of 3,000 people while it was defused.

(H/T: Gizmodo)

This post has been updated to correct word use.