An unexploded World War II bomb was discovered under train tracks near Paris’ Gare du Nord station, creating a major disruption to commuter traffic in the area.
In the early morning of Friday, March 7, construction workers found the bomb approximately a mile and a half north of the station, according to CNN and NBC News. Eurostar trains traveling to and from France’s busy train terminal have been “completely halted” as a result, a spokesperson for the railway company told PEOPLE in a statement.
“Due to the discovery last night of an unexploded bomb from the Second World War during work carried out on the tracks in St. Denis (North of Paris), traffic has been completely halted to and from Gare du Nord,” the statement reads. “As a result, all Eurostar trains are cancelled to and from Paris today.”
The company notes that they expect “normal traffic between Paris and Brussels, and between Paris and London” to begin on Saturday, March 8.
The “really huge” bomb could potentially be a “serious threat to people’s lives,” a spokesperson for SNCF, France’s national railway company, told CNN. The outlet reports that the bomb weighs approximately 441 pounds in explosives and 1,102 pounds total.
Police immediately evacuated the area and a security perimeter was established, disrupting local train lines as well, according to CNN and NBC News.
The local RER-B train line noted that after the discovery was made, “the bomb disposal experts” arrived on the scene “to secure the area and evacuate the elements,” according to their post shared to X.
In October 2024, a World War II bomb exploded at an airport in Japan, creating a large crater on the taxiway at Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan, CBS News and the Associated Press reported at the time.
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While the incident led to the cancellation of more than 80 flights, there were no reported injuries, according to both outlets.
At the time, Land and Ministry officials said Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and police confirmed it was a 500-pound U.S. bomb that exploded, and they were investigating what led to its detonation.
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