Why would you even bother trying to diffuse a 65+ year old bomb.. clear the area and blow it up...
Prayers for their families.
Bots. Word.
500 lb bomb does a LOT of damage to the surrounding area, and most of the time they can defuse them safely. There were some bombs made by both sides as traps for EOD personnel. They basically could not be defused and were designed to blow when the attempt was made. This might have been one of them.
I was thinking the same thing, but it was probably too close to other buildings and infrastructure.