A powerful detonation was heard on Sunday at 3:18 pm in Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine): the massive bomb from World War II was destroyed by a controlled underground explosion, confirming the success of a high-tension demining operation. A loud noise followed by heavy echoes reverberating for hundreds of meters around through the empty streets of this municipality located to the west of Paris, while a drone flew over the site to inspect the crater and ensure the total security of the area.
The operation, which began at 10:30 am on Champarons Street, eventually shifted to the dreaded scenario by midday. Specialists from the central laboratory of the police headquarters first tried to manually defuse the 1.06-meter long explosive without its tail for 33 centimeters in diameter. Since this delicate maneuver was unfortunately not possible, according to the police headquarters, the bomb disposal experts had to bury it.
Before this announcement of the technical failure, the Prefect of Hauts-de-Seine, Alexandre Bruguière, explained to the press that the teams were still at the crossroads of the two scenarios after successfully physically extracting the wall and positioning the ammunition in the two-meter deep pit. “Either the bomb disposal experts manage to defuse the bomb, or we will have to bury it and explode it on site,” summarized the senior official. This technical setback inevitably led to the forced exile of more than a thousand residents who were required to evacuate a 450-meter radius perimeter since dawn.
The representative of the state specified that “1,006 people” were redirected to the five reception centers opened by the cities of Colombes, Asnières-sur-Seine, and Bois-Colombes. The morning evacuation was “concluded in 3 hours and 30 minutes”, also allowing the assistance of “67 vulnerable people” by the emergency services.
Sheltered in these vast complexes, families patiently endured the day. Municipal employees tried to alleviate the waiting time by distributing coffee and biscuits while some residents passed the time with chess or board games. The younger ones occupied themselves with hoops and construction games.
In another specially arranged room, camp beds were set up to preserve the rest of vulnerable elderly individuals. The contrast was striking with the rest of the sports complex where a young man in a black jacket passed the time sitting on the ground against a pillar with a bag of chips, while others delved into comics. “We have to deal with it,” testified Benedict Dally, a 38-year-old nurse sitting in a corner of a center waiting for instructions. “It’s difficult for us on a Sunday, like this, where on Monday others will go to work,” exhaled this evacuated resident.
Outside, the cordoned-off sector turned into a ghost town. The barricaded streets were completely deserted by late morning, except for police cars making final rounds. While this red zone remained silent until the explosion, the extended security perimeter up to a kilometer was bustling with activity. Behind the yellow signs prohibiting traffic, there was a continuous ballet of Red Cross vehicles, Civil Protection, firefighters, and gendarmes.
Nearly 800 agents secure this densely populated area of suburban Paris, patrolled by aerial means deterring opportunistic burglaries. Road traffic and the traffic of six RATP bus lines remain disrupted.
Now that the explosion has passed, residents will still have to wait for the final security checks to hope to receive the SMS authorizing them to return home.
Neutralizing such relics in dense urban areas recalls the paralysis of the Gare du Nord in Paris in March 2025 after the discovery of a 500-kilogram bomb, which required the evacuation of schools and residents under the surveillance of 300 police officers.
