Hauts-de

15,000 residents of three municipalities in the Parisian suburbs 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 21:00.

Reading time: 2 minutes.

Image of the World War II bomb disposal in Asnières-sur-Seine (Police Prefecture). (France 2)

This text corresponds to a part of the transcription of the above report. An explosion and a loud noise, heard for kilometers around. The Second World War bomb has just been neutralized in Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine) on Sunday, April 19. An hour later, we went to the construction site where the device was located, of which there is not much left. “This is what we call the tail. It was located at the rear,” describes Alexandre Brugière, prefect of Hauts-de-Seine. Before its destruction, the device weighed 225 kg, half of which were explosives.

The bomb was discovered under a construction site and was held in place by wooden supports until now. To defuse it, residents living in a perimeter of 450 meters to the north of the Paris region had to be evacuated. During the operation, firefighters were posted on rooftops and police officers secured the area. 15,000 people were asked to leave. Rescuers went door-to-door in the buildings. “They are right anyway. We cannot know what could happen. It could either be defused or explode at any moment,” commented a man who had just left his apartment.

The delicate operation began at 10:30. The bomb was transported by a construction vehicle and then placed in a hole. “Once it was placed in a hole, we tried to dismantle it but we couldn’t. So, the only option left was to add explosives 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 big boom, and that’s it. It didn’t even move,” said a local resident. How many bombs from the last century are still buried under our feet? The exact number is hard to estimate. These devices are regularly found in France. According to experts, it will take several more decades to completely clean our territory of remnants of the past.