WWII Bomb Forces Paris Neighborhood Evacuation

6K people cleared while bomb diffused
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 7, 2011 4:50 AM CST
WWII Bomb Forces Paris Neighborhood Evacuation
This is a bomb. But not THE bomb.   (Shutterstock)

An unexploded, 1,000-pound World War II bomb found by builders in a neighborhood on the edge of Paris forced 6,000 people to be evacuated from their homes yesterday morning, as authorities worked to diffuse it. The explosive was dropped as part of a major bombing mission in 1942, as the British tried to destroy Nazi-occupied factories and industrial facilities, reports the Telegraph.


Four hundred policemen evacuated the neighborhood for over four hours, until police gave the all-clear. Some people spent the time in local administration buildings or sports halls, while others were given free movie passes and went to the cinema. "It's a very strange situation," said one businessman, "to be forced out of your home by a bomb which was dropped well before most of us were born." (More Paris stories.)

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