LONDON -- Thousands of people were evacuated from the center of the east German city of Dresden on Wednesday, as authorities there prepared to detonate a World War II bomb discovered near one of the bridges spanning the Elbe River.

Some 17,000 people had to be evacuated from the area surrounding Dresden's Carola bridge following the discovery of a British-made World War II bomb, the police said on Wednesday. There were significant disruptions during the Wednesday morning commute in the eastern German city,