An unexploded World War II bomb has been found in London

An unexploded German World War II bomb has been found in London, NBC News reports citing London police and fire officials. 

The unexploded bomb was found in the Bermondsey district of South London, approximately a mile away from the historic Tower Bridge. The bridge has been shut down as emergency services have cordoned off the area. 

The bomb was found by workmen at a construction site in Bermondsey. The ordnance is estimated at being five feet long and weighing a half ton. 

According to London's Southwark Council, an Army disposal team is working to deactivate and remove the bomb. To secure the area, residents in a 328 foot (100 meter) radius around the explosive have been evacuated from their homes while traffic has also been rerouted through London. 

The Independent notes that Bermondsey, formerly an industrial area, was one of the most heavily bombed neighborhoods of London during the Blitz, the Nazi air assault that lasted from September 1940 to May 1941. 

During the Blitz, the Germans bombed London a total of 71 times. In total, the Nazi Lutfwaffe dropped 100 tons of explosives on British cities during this stage of the war, killing 40,000 civilians. 

This is not the first time that a German bomb has been found in London after the end of the Blitz. The discovery of unexploded bombs does not "happen every day but they are not massively uncommon where there's building works going on," the London Fire Brigade told NBC. 

SEE ALSO: These charts helped US troops identify enemy aircraft during World War II

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