Unexploded WWII Bomb Discovered Near Paris Train Tracks, Halting Eurostar Traffic

A massive unexploded World War II bomb was discovered under train tracks near Paris’ Gare du Nord station, causing major disruptions to commuter traffic.

Construction workers uncovered the bomb early Friday morning, March 7, about a mile and a half north of the station, CNN and NBC News reported. As a result, Eurostar trains traveling in and out of the busy terminal were completely halted, a spokesperson for the railway company confirmed to PEOPLE.

“Due to the discovery last night of an unexploded bomb from the Second World War during work carried out on the tracks in St. Denis (North of Paris), traffic has been completely halted to and from Gare du Nord,” the company said in a statement. “As a result, all Eurostar trains are cancelled to and from Paris today.”

Eurostar expects normal train services between Paris, Brussels, and London to resume on Saturday, March 8.

A spokesperson for SNCF, France’s national railway company, described the bomb as “really huge” and a “serious threat to people’s lives,” according to CNN. The device weighs approximately 1,102 pounds in total, with 441 pounds of explosives.

Police quickly evacuated the surrounding area and established a security perimeter, disrupting local train lines as well, per CNN and NBC News. The local RER-B train line posted on X that bomb disposal experts had arrived on the scene to “secure the area and evacuate the elements.”

This discovery comes just months after a similar incident in October 2024, when a WWII bomb exploded at Japan’s Miyazaki Airport, creating a large crater on the taxiway. More than 80 flights were canceled, though no injuries were reported, according to CBS News and the Associated Press. Authorities later identified the device as a 500-pound U.S. bomb and launched an investigation into what triggered its detonation.