Greek authorities have started the evacuation of 70,000 people in the city of Thessaloniki on the eve of an operation to disarm a bomb from the Second World War. The bomb which contains about 250 kg of explosives was discovered during road repair works last week. It will be handled on Sunday. The operation began with the evacuation of 300 disabled citizens with the help of 20 ambulances. It is expected that the evacuation of all citizens within a 1.9-km radius from the location of the bomb west of the centre of the city will be completed before 08:00 hrs on Sunday. “The evacuation is mandatory. The plan is without precedent for Greece where such large explosive devices have never been discovered before,” stated the regional governor. Because such operations are rare, it is not clear how long the process will take. For now, it is expected that the operation will last two days.