A World War II era bomb detonated in a German town of Euskirchen, killing one and injuring several others, 68 years after the end of the war.
Euskirchen is situated in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), which is Germany's most populous state.
A driver of a bulldozer was killed after his machine accidentally touched the unexploded bomb that remained buried underneath the earth for decades, the Associated Press reported.
The blast injured 13 other people in the periphery, two critically; while the powerful explosion damaged homes within a radius of 400 meters from the detonation.
Television footage from the scene showed the wreckage of the bulldozer and the nearby houses damaged with their roofs and doors blown off.
"During excavations...the digger uncovered a wartime bomb, which exploded. The driver was killed, and several others close to the digger were hurt. Two are seriously injured and six lightly," Police spokesman Norbert Hardt said.
"The blast caused significant damage, also in neighbouring streets where glass and garage doors were blown out."
Hundreds of war-time bombs are still uncovered in Germany every year, although many of them are successfully defused or detonated in safe places. In November, 20,000 people had to be moved out of Dortmund when police uncovered a 4000-pound bomb of the Allied forces. It was later defused before anyone was hurt.
About 2000 bombs have been found until now in Berlin alone, according to National Geographic. 706 bombs were defused in 2012, 239 of which weighed more than 50 kilos, Reuters reported.
