In brief
Passengers faced significant delays and cancellations at Gare du Nord as officials prioritized safety.
Traffic came to a standstill at one of France's busiest train stations on Friday when an unexploded World War II bomb was discovered overnight in the Saint-Denis suburb, close to tracks leading into Gare du Nord, a pivotal Parisian travel hub. Rail services, including the high-speed Eurostar connections to Britain, Belgium, and the Netherlands, were halted for several hours as police dispatched mine-sweeping teams to address the ordnance.France’s national railway company announced that train operations from and to Gare du Nord would be suspended until mid-afternoon on police orders. Philippe Tabarot, Minister of Transportation, assured the public on Sud Radio that although such discoveries were not common, particularly in bustling urban environments, all precautions were being taken to ensure the bomb could be safely handled. Reportedly, the specific type of bomb and the conditions surrounding its detection were still under investigation. Similar situations, though infrequent, have arisen across Europe, where unexploded ordnance from past conflicts occasionally surface. Just recently, over 175 practice bombs were located underneath a playground in northern England, while Berlin experienced significant evacuations in 2018 when a large bomb was unearthed.Aurelien Breeden is a reporter for The Times in Paris, covering news from France.
