Discovery of World War 2 bomb near major Paris train station disrupts services

Discovery of World War 2 bomb near major Paris train station disrupts services

 French police were working to disarm a WWII-era bomb found "in the middle of the train tracks" in the north of Paris. All trains to the Gare du Nord station, including the Eurostar, were halted.

An unexploded bomb from World War II disrupted railway traffic to and from Paris' busy Gare du Nord train station, officials said Friday. 

The bomb was found "in the middle of the tracks," 2.5 km (1.55 miles) from the train station, in the Saint Denis area, France's national rail company said in a statement. The Paris suburban rail company wrote on X that the explosive was from the WWII era.  

All train traffic to the station was halted as the local police worked to disable the explosive.

The Gare du Nord station lies north of Paris and is the country's busiest train terminal, hosting Eurostar trains as well as high-speed and local trains.

Eurostar's website showed that at least four trains scheduled to depart from the station had been cancelled, and it advised travellers to reschedule their trips.

"Due to the discovery last night of an unexploded bomb from the Second World War during work carried out near Paris Gare du Nord, traffic is interrupted to and from Gare du Nord," one of the network's train lines, the H Line, said in a post on messaging platform X. It said the move was requested by the Paris police.

The bomb was found 2.5 km (1.55 miles) from the train station, in the middle of the train tracks, the H line said. Train traffic would be disrupted until the de-mining operation was completed. French police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An estimated 700,000 people commute via the station each day, as per the railway company.  

 

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