Three unexploded U.S. bombs from World War II were defused on Wednesday in Cologne after the German city's biggest evacuation since the end of the war.

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 Cologne said this was the largest evacuation of the city since World War II. Unexploded ordnance has commonly been found across Europe.