News

Evacuation at Neuenkirchener Straße

Rheine. In the course of construction work on the property at Neuenkirchener Str. 111, directly next to the main customs office Rheine,an American aerial bomb was discovered. This will be removed in consultation with the explosive ordnance disposal service on the coming

Monday, February 13, 2023. Since it is a 250 kg bomb, all buildings within a corresponding radius of

of 250 m must be evacuated during the defusing (see attached overview).

About 700 people will be affected by the evacuation. The city of Rheine will produce handouts at short notice and place them in the respective mailboxesto inform the affected citizens that they will have to vacate their apartments, houses and alsoworkplaces during the defusing.

People who are dependent on assistance and can not leave their homes without help are asked to immediately contact the cityRheine by phone (939 325) or e-mail). The telephone hotline is also available for queries during opening hours.

In the adult education and music school at Neuenkirchener Str. 22 on evacuation day from 07:30 a.m. a drop-in center will be set up for peoplewho have no other place to stay. Food and beverages will be provided.

Also affected by the defusing are parts of the Mathias Hospital on Frankenburgstraße. A complete evacuation of the hospital is not necessary. Only the north facade, adjacent to Frankenburgstraße, must be evacuated for the duration of the evacuation. Inpatients are not affected by the evacuation; there is no danger to them. Nevertheless, some restrictions are unavoidable:

  • The main entrance area of the Mathias Hospital will be closed, access to the building will be exclusively via the side entrance at the bistro (parking lot P1, Dutumer Straße).
  • Visitors are not allowed to enter the hospital until the area has been successfully defused and cleared by the authorities.
  • Scheduled surgeries, procedures and consultations will be rescheduled.

Fortunately, emergency care and obstetrics are unrestricted.

At 07:00 Monday morning, the Technical Operations Team (TEL) will meet for a final briefing. After that, the closureof the affected areas will take place until 08:00 at the latest. Detour possibilities will be signposted. Subsequently, employees of the

Administration staff will then ring the doorbells of every apartment to ensure complete evacuation.

At around 11:00 a.m., it is planned to start defusing. As soon as this is finished, information will be provided via radio announcements (RST) as well as on the city’s website

of the city Rheine and the closure will be lifted.