PARIS — Trains and cars are once again rolling in Paris after a “really huge” unexploded bomb from World War II brought life to a standstill in the European capital.
The explosive was estimated to be a half-ton in weight and bomb-disposal experts were called in to defuse the situation, The Associated Press reported.
The bomb itself had more than 400 pounds of explosives in it and was about three feet long, The New York Times reported.
France’s national rail company called the bomb “really huge,” CNN reported.
The device forced the suspension of travel on the high-speed train that links London to Brussels, along with France’s busiest train station, which is the third busiest station in the world, according to CNN.
The unexploded ordinance was found as crews were working near a railway bridge in Saint-Denis, about 2.5km or 1.55 miles, from Paris.
The work crew was using an earth mover when the bomb was found just before dawn on Friday morning. It was about six feet between train tracks just north of Gare du Nord station.
A 200-meter security perimeter was initially set up that affected intercity and suburban rail lines near Paris, but was expanded to 500 meters and forced the evacuation of all buildings that had windows facing the location of the bomb, CNN reported.
About 300 police officers were called to the scene, the AP reported.
It is not uncommon to find unexploded ordinance left over from both World Wars. But normally it does not cause a distribution like it did on Friday, the AP said.
Since the end of World War II in 1945, disposal teams in France have defused 700,000 bombs and 50 million mines, shells and other explosives.
More than 160 unexploded practice bombs were found under a playground in February in Wooler, England, ABC News reported. In one day, crews uncovered 65 bombs, each weighing 10 pounds, in less than one square mile. They also found smoke cartridges in that area.