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.

The Fort fire began just before 11:30 p.m. Wednesday in Lebec and had grown significantly by Thursday morning as commuters began their morning journey.

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.