Thousands of residents in Colombes, a town roughly 18 kilometres northwest of central Paris, were evacuated from their homes on Sunday as French authorities carried out a major bomb disposal operation to neutralise a World War II-era explosive device discovered during construction work.

The bomb was found on 10 April on Rue des Champarons, where it had lain buried for more than eight decades. Authorities secured the site and covered the device with sand while specialists from the Paris Police Laboratory (LCPP) prepared a removal plan. Residents living within a 450-metre radius of the find were ordered to leave their homes on foot by 07:00 local time, alerted by the FR-Alert emergency notification system. A wider security perimeter of one kilometre was also established, prohibiting outdoor gatherings. Nearly 800 police officers were deployed to enforce both zones, and bus routes through the area were suspended.

Specialists initially attempted to remove the bomb's detonator — an operation expected to take up to four hours — but that effort failed. The device had been extracted from a wall and transferred to a specially dug trench two metres deep, and with deactivation no longer feasible, authorities proceeded to destroy it with a controlled underground explosion at 15:20 local time. The Préfet des Hauts-de-Seine confirmed the operation was "carried out successfully" and lifted the evacuation order shortly after 16:00. Five reception centres had been opened in the surrounding towns of Colombes, Asnières-sur-Seine and Bois-Colombes, with 220 vulnerable residents directed to emergency services. "The authorities told us to close our windows and shutters when we left the house, but we didn't take anything — we left everything as it was," one local resident, Alida, told newspaper Le Parisien.

Local official Alexandre Brugère had warned ahead of the operation that it would be "risky" and required a "high level of preparation in an extremely short timeframe." The successful conclusion brought relief to a neighbourhood that had effectively been placed on hold for the better part of a day.

The incident is a reminder that the legacy of World War II — which ended 80 years ago — still poses tangible dangers across Europe. Unexploded ordnance is routinely unearthed during construction projects in cities from London to Berlin, often requiring large-scale evacuations. Urban discoveries are considered especially hazardous given the density of surrounding populations, making careful planning and swift execution essential when such devices come to light.