Hauts-de

15,000 residents of three suburbs of Paris were evacuated on Sunday, April 19 for a World War II bomb disposal operation. The device was destroyed by explosion.

Published on April 19, 2026 at 9:00 pm. Reading time: 2 minutes.

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An explosion and a loud noise heard for kilometers around. The World War II bomb has just been neutralized in Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine) on Sunday, April 19. An hour later, we accessed the site where the device was located, of which little remains. “This is what we call the empennage. This is what was located at the rear,” described Alexandre Bruguière, prefect of Hauts-de-Seine. Before its destruction, the device weighed 225 kg, half of which was explosives.

The bomb was discovered under a construction site and was being held in place by wooden trestles. To deactivate it, residents living in a 450-meter radius around were evacuated, in the north of the Paris region. During the operation, firefighters were positioned on rooftops and police officers secured the area. 15,000 people were asked to leave. Rescuers went door-to-door in apartment buildings. “They are right anyway. We cannot know what might happen. We can just as well deactivate it as it could explode at any moment,” commented a man who had just left his apartment.

The delicate operation started at 10:30 AM. The bomb was transported by construction machinery and then placed at the bottom of a hole. “Once it was placed in a hole, we tried to dismantle it. We couldn’t do it. So, from there, the only option left was to add explosives on it and detonate it,” explained Christophe Pezron, director of the central laboratory of the Police prefecture.

Explosives were placed on the bomb. It was then buried and covered with sand to explode underground. “We heard a loud bang, and that’s it. It didn’t even move,” recounted a resident. How many bombs from the last century remain buried under our feet? The number is difficult to estimate. These devices are regularly found in France. According to experts, several more decades are needed to completely clean our territory of relics from the past.