This undated handout photograph made available by the Precture de Police on April 19, 2026 shows a bomb from World War II partially uncovered near a residential area, prompting a vast operation by emergency services to neutralise the device, in Paris' northwestern suburb of Colombes. Photo by Handout / Préfecture de police / AFP
Colombes, France: Authorities evacuated thousands of residents of a Paris suburb Sunday as experts sought to defuse a World War II bomb, police said.
Nearly 800 police cordoned off the site in the northwest suburb of Colombes as specialists tried but failed in one bid to remove the detonator from the explosive, which was first discovered on April 10, police said.
Experts now planned to detonate the bomb in a two-metre (6.5-foot) deep pit, an operation expected to take "several more hours", according to police.
This undated handout photograph made available by the Precture de Police on April 19, 2026 shows a bomb from World War II partially uncovered near a residential area, prompting a vast operation by emergency services to neutralise the device, in Paris' northwestern suburb of Colombes. Photo by Handout / Préfecture de police / AFP
Residents within a 450-metre radius were told early Sunday to move to local reception centres. Authorities expect to allow them back into their homes later in the day.
Local official Alexandre Brugere on Thursday had described the operation as "risky" and requiring a "high level of preparation".
Unexploded World War II ordnance is still found across Europe, particularly in Germany where bombs are regularly discovered on construction sites, 80 years after the conflict ended.
In 2025, the discovery of a 500-kilogramme wartime bomb halted traffic at the Paris Gare du Nord station, France's busiest railway terminus.
