Paris: Gare du Nord, France’s busiest railway station located in Paris, came to a standstill on Friday.
It wasn’t because of any technical issue or maintenance work. The reason is a huge surprise — an unexploded World War II bomb was found on the tracks.
The bomb was discovered overnight during routine maintenance work in the Saint-Denis suburb, the French national railway company, SNCF, informed.
The suburban RER B train service also confirmed that the device dated back to the Second World War.
Railway authorities immediately suspended all train services to and from Gare du Nord, affecting high-speed TGV and Eurostar services.
Local, national and inter-country passengers were extremely inconvenienced as Gare du Nord station handles around 700,000 persons daily. The severe disruptions were necessitated as police and bomb disposal teams worked to contain the situation.
🔴🇫🇷 FLASH – La Gare du Nord totalement évacuée par la #police à #Paris après la découverte d’un obus / roquette de char dans le sac d’un voyageur. Des dizaines de trains retardés, des milliers de personnes concernées. Situation toujours en cours. #garedunord (twitter – témoins) pic.twitter.com/ClB4AvhefF
— SIRÈNES (@SirenesFR) November 29, 2019
At least three Eurostar trains were cancelled, with passengers traveling to London, Brussels and other destinations experiencing significant delays.
Officials are yet to explain how the bomb landed up on the tracks to be found after so many years. Some unexploded ordnance from World War II is occasionally found in some European cities during construction and maintenance projects.
