Unexploded WW II bomb discovered near tracks at major Paris train terminal
Paris – The Eurostar train travels to and from London and other trains heading north from Paris were found, which dates back to World War II and is close to the track of World War II, serving the busy Gal Nord station in the busy French capital of France.
The country’s national train operator SNCF said in a statement that traffic was stopped at the request of the police. They are working to disable the device.
Geoffroy Van der Hasselt/AFP via Getty Images
French transport minister Philippe Tabarot said traffic throughout the day would be “severely damaged” and that only limited service was restored in the afternoon, urging travelers to postpone their trips.
The bomb was discovered around 4 a.m., through workers who were doing Earth work near the track in the Senas-Denis area.
The minesweeper was sent to the site and their operations were still in progress.
When open Friday, stranded travelers gather at the station.
Michel Euler / AP
Gare du Nord is a major European transport center that serves international destinations north of France, such as the European capital, Brussels and the Netherlands, as well as major airports in Paris and many regional destinations.
Bombs left behind in World War I and World War II are often found around France, but rarely in places so full of people.
Tabarot said in a speech on the broadcaster’s SUD radio that local residents and people near the train station should be “not worried” about the risk of explosions, as he emphasized the procedures for chopping up these bombs and removing such bombs.
Eurostar, which runs passenger trains in a channel tunnel between the UK and the mainland, canceled all services between London and Paris on Friday morning and advised passengers to choose another day of travel.
Friday is one of the busiest days of the week, with thousands of people leaving and arriving at weekend breaks at Eurostar London Hub, St. Pancras Station.
Trains between Brussels, other major destinations between London and Eurostar, are not affected.
