Marc Mueller / EPA
Diethard Posorski, of the bomb disposal team, stands next to an unexploded WW II bomb which was found at a construction site in Munich, Germany, Monday.
By Andy Eckardt, NBC News
MAINZ, Germany -- Nearly 3,000 residents were evacuated from the heart of Munich late Monday night after construction workers found an undetonated, 550-pound World War II bomb.
The evacuation, which affected several blocks in the busy party district of Schwabing, was ordered by local officials as a routine security measure.
At approximately 10 p.m. Monday local time, experts from the Munich bomb disposal squad determined that the explosives were not equipped with a ?normal mechanism,? but a chemical, delayed-action detonator.
"It is an extremely dangerous device," Roman Leitow, a Munich fire department spokesman told NBC News.
?A specialist is presently trying to defuse the bomb with his team,? he added.
Leave immediately
Fire department officials went from door-to-door last night to enforce the evacuation, after fire trucks had passed through the streets, instructing residents with loudspeaker announcements to leave their homes immediately.
Experts from Munich fire department spent most of the night shielding the bomb with sand, bales of straw and other insulating material, which would catch shrapnel and muffle the shock wave in case of an uncontrolled explosion.
Most of the evacuated residents spent the night with friends and family, but about 600 were brought to one of the three temporary shelters set up by in nearby schools by rescue teams. Red Cross workers handed out blankets and drinks.
Massive WWII bomb successfully defused
If attempts fail to defuse the bomb, then specialists will create a controlled explosion later today, officials said.
During World War II, Allied forces dropped nearly 2 million tons of bombs on Germany and experts estimate that between 5 to 15 percent of the bombs did not explode.
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