Thousands of Parisians evacuated as WW2 bomb detonated

Prefet de Police

Thousands of people were evacuated from a northern suburb of Paris while a World War Two bomb was rendered safe on Sunday.

Residents in Colombes living within a 450m radius of where the device was found last month were told by police to leave their homes by 07:00 local time (05:00 GMT), as authorities carried out a bomb disposal operation.

An inital attempt to remove the device's detonator failed, French media reports, prompting authorities to destroy the historic munition in situ with a controlled explosion.

The operation was "carried out successfully" and the evacutation order was lifted by early on Sunday evening, the Préfet des Hauts-de-Seine confirmed in a statement.

The bomb was discovered on 10 April during construction work on Rue des Champarons. Authorities secured the site and covered the device with sand while preparations were made for its removal.

Ahead of the operation, local official Alexandre Brugère said it would be "risky" and required a "high level of preparation".

Nearly 800 police officers were deployed to enforce the 900m-wide evacuation zone, while a second, wider zone extending a kilometre from the bomb's location allowed residents to remain indoors but restricted outdoor activity.

Locals received emergency alerts instructing them to leave and were told they would not be allowed to return until the operation had been completed.

"The authorities told us to close our windows and shutters when we left the house, but we didn't take anything - we left everything as it was," one resident, Alida, told newspaper Le Parisien.

Reception centres were set up for those forced to leave their homes, including support for vulnerable residents requiring medical assistance.

Police said bomb disposal experts conducted the controlled detonation at 15:20 on Sunday. The evacuation order was lifted shortly after 16:00.

Undetonated WW2 bombs are still found regularly across Europe, 86 years since the war began.

Those uncovered in urban centres - usually when digging foundations for new buildings - can pose a greater risk due to a built-up nearby population.

Dozens of bombs have been found in recent years across London, leading to evacuations of tourist hotspots and even the temporary closure of London City Airport.

Last year, a device weighing 500kg was found and defused near Gare du Nord in Paris, where rail workers were putting up a new bridge over railway lines.