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World War 2 bomb, 6 lakh affected: What ‘paralyzed’ France’s busiest station
Traffic at Paris' Gare du Nord came to a halt on Friday morning. Almost 500 trains had been cancelled, impacting around 600,000 people at Gare du Nord that serves not only Paris’ northern suburbs and northern France, but also international destinations.
Thousands of travellers at one of France's busiest train stations were left stranded on Friday morning, and all Eurostar trains to London were stopped due to a "rare" event.
A massive unexploded World War 2 bomb was found near Gare du Nord, one of France's busiest train stations. The incident caused hours of transportation chaos Friday on rail and road networks in the French capital.
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Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said that almost 500 trains had been cancelled, impacting around 600,000 people at Gare du Nord that serves not only Paris’ northern suburbs and northern France, but also international destinations in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
A portion of the A1 highway — a major road artery into northern Paris — and sections of the capital’s always-busy beltway were also closed while police disposal officers worked.
“All of the northern part of our country was paralyzed,” Tabarot said.
Here's what exactly led to chaos at Gare du Nord
According to France 24, traffic at Gare du Nord, the largest train transit hub in Paris, came to a halt on Friday morning, after workers found a World War-II era bomb during planned works overnight on Thursday.
The bomb, discovered under the tracks north of Paris' Gare du Nord, reportedly weighed more than 1,000 pounds (453.5 kg). It was unearthed in the suburb of Saint-Denis during overnight work on tracks.
Paris police described the bomb as “excessively dangerous”. The bomb was dug up near train tracks north of Paris, forcing a shutdown of the rail network serving Gare du Nord, France’s busiest station.
Bomb disposal crews successfully defused the explosive device, allowing train traffic at the station to restart slowly, the New York Times reported.
Having moved the bomb into a hole, disposal experts managed to unscrew and then destroy its fuse, “like you see in the movies,” said Christophe Pezron, who heads the Paris police laboratory that includes bomb disposal services.
He was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the half-ton British-made bomb could have caused major damage had it exploded after workers inadvertently dug it up with an earthmover.
“We’re delighted and relieved that all this has come to an end,” Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot was able to finally declare Friday afternoon — 12 hours after the bomb-disposal police were first called — as roads reopened and rail services were progressively being restored.
(With inputs from agencies)
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First Published:8 Mar 2025, 08:34 AM IST
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