Thousands of people were evacuated from a northern suburb of Paris while a World War Two bomb was rendered safe on Sunday, the BBC reports.
Residents in Colombes living within a 450m radius of where the device was found last month were told by police to leave their homes by 07:00 local time (05:00 GMT), as authorities carried out a bomb disposal operation.
An inital attempt to remove the device’s detonator failed, French media reports, prompting authorities to destroy the historic munition in situ with a controlled explosion.
The operation was “carried out successfully” and the evacutation order was lifted by early on Sunday evening, the Préfet des Hauts-de-Seine confirmed in a statement.
The bomb was discovered on 10 April during construction work on Rue des Champarons. Authorities secured the site and covered the device with sand while preparations were made for its removal.
Ahead of the operation, local official Alexandre Brugère said it would be “risky” and required a “high level of preparation”.
