800 agents mobilized and a strong explosion: what happened in northern Paris? We will have to detonate it on site

During a delicate operation that was “unfortunately not possible,” according to the police prefecture, the dummies had to proceed with its burial.

Images of the operation showed the heavy rusty metallic relic resting at the bottom of a sandy pit firmly closed by thick raw wooden planks embedded in front of concrete walls. Significant covering works were then necessary to muffle the blast of the detonation.

“The branching of scenarios”

Shortly before this announcement of the technical failure, the prefect of Hauts-de-Seine, Alexandre Brugère, explained to the press that the teams were still at the “branching of the two scenarios” after successfully extracting the physical 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 detonate it on the spot,” summarized the senior official.

This technical setback inevitably led to the forced exile of over a thousand residents who were ordered to evacuate a perimeter of 450 meters radius since early morning.

The government representative 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 30 minutes,” also allowing for the care of “67 vulnerable individuals” by rescue teams.

Ghost town

Safe within these vast complexes, families patiently spent the day. Municipal employees tried to ease the wait by distributing coffee and biscuits, while some residents passed the time with a chessboard or a board game.

The youngest ones played with hoops and building games.

In another specially arranged room, camp beds were set up to preserve the rest of vulnerable elderly people. 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 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 to a kilometer teemed with activity.

Aerial bomb found on Coxyde Beach

Behind the yellow signs prohibiting traffic, one could see the continuous ballet of vehicles from the Red Cross, the Civil Protection, firefighters, and the gendarmerie.

Nearly 800 agents secured this very dense area of the Parisian suburbs, patrolled by aerial means discouraging opportunistic burglaries.

Road traffic and the traffic of six RATP bus lines remain suspended.

With the explosion now over, residents will still have to wait for the final security checks before hoping to receive the SMS authorizing them to return home.

The neutralization of such remnants 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.