4,000 residents evacuated in Paris suburb as WWII bomb was being neutralized
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Thousands of residents were evacuated from a northern suburb of Paris on Sunday as bomb disposal teams carried out a high‑risk operation to neutralize an unexploded World War Two device discovered during construction work earlier this month.
Police ordered residents living within 450 metres of the site in Colombes to leave their homes by 07:00 local time (05:00 GMT), establishing a security perimeter while specialists attempted to remove the detonator. French media reported that the initial attempt to extract the mechanism failed, prompting authorities to destroy the device in place using a controlled explosion.
The Préfet des Hauts‑de‑Seine confirmed on Sunday evening that the operation had been “carried out successfully” and that the evacuation order had been lifted.
The bomb was uncovered on 10 April during excavation work on Rue des Champarons. Officials secured the site and covered the munition with sand while preparing for its removal. Local official Alexandre Brugère warned ahead of the operation that the procedure would be “risky” and required extensive planning.
Nearly 800 police officers were deployed to enforce the evacuation zone, which extended 900 metres in diameter. A secondary zone reaching one kilometre from the site allowed residents to remain indoors but restricted outdoor movement. Emergency alerts instructed locals to leave their homes and warned they would not be permitted to return until the detonation was complete.
Reception centres were opened for displaced residents, including facilities for those requiring medical support. One resident told Le Parisien that authorities instructed them to close windows and shutters before leaving: “We didn’t take anything — we left everything as it was.”
Bomb disposal experts conducted the controlled detonation at 15:20, and the evacuation order was lifted shortly after 16:00.
Unexploded ordnance from World War Two continues to be found across Europe, particularly in urban areas where construction frequently uncovers buried munitions. Similar discoveries in recent years have led to evacuations in London and Paris, including the defusing of a 500‑kg bomb near Gare du Nord last year.
Photo Credit: Bomb disposal experts in a photograph provided by the French police.
Further Reading:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gxv3874vjo
https://www.aol.com/news/thousands-parisians-evacuated-ww2-bomb-155400987.html
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/38868125/thousands-evacuated-paris-ww2-bomb-detonated/?
https://peopledaily.digital/news/ww2-bomb-detonated-in-paris-suburb-as-thousands-evacuated?
https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/19/04/2026/bomb-experts-try-to-defuse-wwii-bomb-near-paris?