A World War I bomb weighing more than 1,000 pounds was just north of Paris, and it stopped on Friday at one of France's busiest train stations, causing chaos on trips across the English Channel.
The bomb was discovered outside San Dennis during an overnight work on the orbit leading to Gare du Nord, a major Parisian transport hub that serves other parts of Europe, including Northern France and the UK.
In a statement, SNCF, the French national railway company, said at the request of the Paris police, “traffic has been completely interrupted from between them this morning with Gare du Nord,” adding that once police complete their copyright activities the train will start running again.
The bomb was found around 3:30am, about a mile and a half away from Gare du Nord, the company said. When the Earth-powered machines revealed the bomb, workers were landscaping at the bridge renovation site.
It is about three feet long and contains over 400 pounds of explosives, the company said, and added a travel notice that “large earthwork” is required to safely soothe it.
The mine's cleaning crew established a massive security perimeter, including a nearby road section and a highway that police will close.
Expressways and commuter rail traffic have been stopped for hours. All Eurostar trains connecting Paris to London, Brussels and Amsterdam have been cancelled, monitoring Gare du Nord's travelers, serving more than 226 million travelers in 2023.
Beyond the English Channel at St. Pancras International Station, a bewildered crowd of Eurostar passengers encountered a closed barrier. One of them, Katie Jones, had planned to celebrate her 40th birthday at Disneyland Paris. Plans for a previous trip to Paris in 2020 have become victims of the Covid-19 pandemic that has led much of the world to lockdown.
“I chose the Eurostar because I was scared of flying,” Jones said. “Irony.”
In Europe, it is not uncommon for construction workers to come across unexploded weapons from the conflicts that tore the continent in the 20th century. The French railway company said the area where the latest bombs were found was “well known in World War II.”
Last month, more than 175 practice bombs used in training during World War II were discovered under children's playgrounds in northern England. In 2018, thousands of people were evacuated in Berlin after the discovery of a 1,100-pound World War II bomb.
“It doesn't happen every day, but it does,” said Fabien Villedieu, leader of Sud-Rail, a coalition of national railway workers who shared photos of bulky, cylindrical rock-packed bombs in the X.
Villedue, who said he received the photos through an inside information sharing system for rail workers, noted that the unadvanced device was found at about 600 feet from the busy express road surrounding Paris.
“It's in the middle of an urban area,” he said.
Local authorities in San Dennis said in a statement that the house with windows overlooking the area was ordered to evacuate during the escape process, which was expected to last about an hour. Six schools and nursing homes have also been blocked as precautions.
French Minister of Transport Philip Tabarott told reporters in Paris that authorities have taken all the necessary steps to safely remove the bombs, and trains will resume as soon as possible.
It was almost a comfort to the passengers of St. Pancras, whose travel plans were turned upside down by the long-forgotten implementation of a war.
Some walked around it. Clara Thompson, 52, is scheduled to run a Paris half marathon on Sunday and booked a flight immediately on Friday evening amidst chaos. “It's inconvenient, but I'll get it,” she said. “They find the bomb and can't do anything about it.”
However, Alison and John Heine, who had just arrived on a red-eyed flight from Houston, suddenly got three offensive children, ages 7, 9 and 13, in their hands. Their vacation in Paris was a few months of planning.
“It doesn't look good,” Heine said. “There are no flights. I heard there might be a bus, but it's eight hours.”
“They are very disappointed,” she said, pointing to the children. “Lots of tears.”
Albanian
Croatian
Dutch
English
French
German
Italian
Macedonian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish