Local media reported that the bomb was found “in middle of the tracks” during overnight works nearby France’s Gare du Nord station.
Eurostar announced it would be cancelling all of its high-speed trains between Paris to London and Brussels after an unexploded World War II era bomb was found near the French capital’s central Gare du Nord station.
“All Eurostar trains are cancelled to and from Paris today,” the rail operator said.
Passengers travelling with the Eurostar from London were advised to take the train to Lille in northwest France or fly to Paris.
French regional trains were also disrupted at the busy Gare du Nord station, which typically sees 700,000 travellers per day journeying within France, to Paris’ main airport and international destinations including London, Brussels and cities in the Netherlands.
France’s national train operator SNCF told French newspaper Liberation that traffic is not expected to resume before 16.00 CET .
Earlier, French Transport Minister Phillipe Tabarot warned traffic would be “strongly disrupted” throughout the day after the ordnance was discovered by workers doing earth-moving work nearby.
Local media reported the 500kg bomb was found 2 metres deep into the ground “in the middle of the tracks” in the nearby area of Saint-Denis, a Parisian suburb.
Bomb disposal experts have been sent to the site and security perimeter of 500-metres remains in place.
Bombs left over from the two world wars are regularly discovered around France but it is very rare to find them in such a people-packed location.
Tabarot, speaking on broadcaster Sud Radio, said local residents and people near the train stations should have “no fear” of a risk of explosion, stressing the procedures in place for defusing and removing such bombs.
Additional sources • AP
