At 3:18 pm in Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine) on Sunday, a powerful detonation occurred, destroying the imposing World War II bomb with a controlled underground explosion, confirming the success of a high-pressure demining operation.
A dull noise followed by heavy echoes resonated for hundreds of meters in the empty streets of this town west of Paris, as a drone flew over the site to inspect the crater and ensure the total security of the area.
The operation that began at 10:30 am on Champarons Street finally shifted to this feared scenario by midday.
The specialists from the central laboratory of the police prefecture (LCPP) first tried to manually defuse the explosive, measuring 1.06 meters in length without its tail section and 33 centimeters in diameter. This delicate maneuver was “unfortunately not possible,” according to the police prefecture, so the mine clearance experts had to proceed with burying it.
Images of the operation showed the heavy, rusty metallic remnants resting at the bottom of a sandy pit firmly sealed by thick raw wooden planks embedded against concrete walls. Extensive covering work was then needed to muffle the blast from the detonation.
The technical failure
Shortly before announcing the technical failure, the prefect of Hauts-de-Seine, Alexandre Brugière, 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 munition in the two-meter-deep pit.
“Either the mine clearance experts manage to defuse the bomb, or we will have to bury it and detonate it on the spot,” summarized the senior official.
This technical setback inevitably led to the forced evacuation of over a thousand residents who were instructed to leave a perimeter of 450 meters radius since dawn.
The government representative stated 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 30 minutes,” also allowing the assistance of “67 vulnerable individuals” by the emergency services.
Sheltered in these vast complexes, families patiently endured the day. Municipal employees tried to ease the wait by distributing coffee and cookies, while some residents passed the time with a chessboard or a board game.
The children entertained themselves with hoops and building games.
A ghost town
In another room set up separately, camp beds were arranged to ensure 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 floor against a pillar with a bag of chips, while others immersed themselves in comic books.
“We have to deal with it,” testified Bénédicte Dally, a 38-year-old caregiver 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,” sighed this evacuated resident.
Outside, the sealed off area had become a ghost town. The barricaded streets were completely deserted by late morning, except for police cars carrying out final rounds.
While this red zone remained silent until the explosion, the extended security perimeter up to one kilometer swarmed with activity behind the yellow signs prohibiting movement. The continuous ballet of Red Cross vehicles, Civil Protection, firefighters, and gendarmerie could be seen.
A very dense area
Close to 800 agents secured this highly dense area in the Parisian suburbs, watched over by aerial means to prevent opportunistic burglaries.
Road traffic and the traffic of six RATP bus lines remained cut off.
Now that the explosion has passed, residents will have to wait for the final security checks to hope to receive the text message authorizing them to return home.
The neutralization of such remnants in dense urban environments recalls the shutdown 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.
Original article published on BFMTV.com
