Bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled underground detonation of a World War II explosive near Paris on Sunday, a AFP the journalist reported, after the authorities evacuated more than a thousand residents.
Nearly 800 police cordoned off the site in the northwestern suburb of Colombes, where the device was first discovered on April 10.
A AFP A journalist heard the explosion around 3:20 p.m. (1:20 p.m. GMT), when experts detonated the bomb in a two-meter-deep well.
The authorities also confirmed that the operation had been carried out.
The controlled explosion was ordered after specialists failed in an attempt to remove the detonator of the explosive, which measured more than a meter in length, excluding the tail section.
Images of the operation showed fragments of rusted metal at the bottom of a sand pit, reinforced with thick wooden planks and concrete walls.
Residents within a 450-metre radius were asked early on Sunday to move to local reception centres. Authorities hope to allow them to return to their homes later in the day. Some local roads were closed to traffic and public transportation.
Local official Alexandre Brugere on Thursday described the operation as “risky” and requiring a “high level of preparation.”
Unexploded ordnance from the Second World War is still found throughout Europe, particularly in Germany, where bombs are regularly discovered at construction sites, 80 years after the conflict ended.
In 2025, the discovery of a 500-kilogram war bomb halted traffic at the Paris Gare du Nord station, France’s busiest rail terminal.
