Bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled underground detonation of a World War II explosive near Paris on Sunday, according to a AFP the journalist reported, after the authorities evacuated more than a thousand residents.
Nearly 800 police officers cordoned off the site, in the northwest suburbs of Colombes, where the device was first discovered on April 10.
A AFP The journalist heard the explosion around 3:20 p.m. (1:20 p.m. GMT) as experts detonated the bomb in a two-meter-deep pit.
The authorities also confirmed that the operation had been carried out.
The controlled explosion was ordered after specialists failed to remove the explosive’s detonator, which measured more than a meter long, not including the tail.
Images of the operation showed fragments of rusty metal at the bottom of a sand pit, reinforced by thick wooden planks and concrete walls.
Residents within a 450 meter radius were asked to go to local reception centers on Sunday morning. Authorities hope to allow them to return home later today. Some local roads were closed to traffic and public transport.
Local official Alexandre Brugère on Thursday described the operation as “risky” and requiring a “high level of preparation”.
Unexploded ordnance from the Second World War can still be found all over Europe, notably in Germany, where bombs are regularly discovered on construction sites, 80 years after the end of the conflict.
In 2025, the discovery of a 500-kilogram war bomb disrupted traffic at Paris’ Gare du Nord, France’s busiest rail terminus.
