COLOGNE (dpa-AFX) - Due to the defusing of an aerial bomb on the Rhine in Koln, the headquarters of the television station RTL must be evacuated on Wednesday. However, broadcasting operations will continue, a spokeswoman said. "We are therefore moving our studio outside without further ado and will continue to broadcast "Punkt 12" and possibly also the later current RTL programs "Explosiv" and "Exclusiv" as well as ntv live from outside the evacuation zone." The RTL studio in Berlin will temporarily take over the direction of all programs.

The American ten-ton bomb was found in the morning during dredging work in the Rhine. According to the city of Koln, it will be placed on a pontoon for defusing and then transported to a harbor.

In addition to RTL, other companies such as the HDI insurance group and the headquarters of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) are also located within the 500-metre evacuation radius. Residents, on the other hand, are hardly affected. According to the city, shipping and rail traffic over the Hohenzollern Bridge will have to be suspended during the evacuation./pa/DP/men