The German city of Cologne has finished evacuating 20,500 people, its largest evacuation order since World War II, after officials defused three massive, unexploded bombs.

Authorities in the German city of Cologne have defused three unexploded World War Two bombs after the evacuation of more than 20,000 people. Bomb squad technicians deactivated the American bombs on Wednesday after evacuating an area of around 10,000 sq m (107,639 sq ft) following their discovery in a shipyard in Deutz on Monday.

More than 20,000 residents were being evacuated from part of Cologne's city center on Wednesday as specialists prepared to defuse three unexploded U.S. bombs from World War II that were unearthed earlier this week.