Eurostar trains to London and all trains heading to northern France were brought to a halt Friday following the discovery of an unexploded World War II era bomb on tracks leading to the nation’s busiest station.
Paris police said that at 4 a.m. Friday morning, a WW2 bomb was discovered by workers along railway tracks in Saint Denis.
Technicians from Paris’ demining team are currently at the site, according to the police, with an SNCF spokesperson describing the bomb as “really huge”.
“The bomb could be a serious threat to people’s lives,” the spokesperson said.
Traffic was “completely blocked” as of 9a.m. Friday morning, French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said, disrupting suburban, regional and international trains.
Tabarot warned services will be “strongly shook up” all day.
Gare du Nord is a major European transit hub, serving international destinations north of France as well as the main Paris airport and many regional commuters.
Tabarot said that he hoped a reduced service would be running on French lines by the afternoon.
“There’s no reason to fear,” the minister told Sud Radio, “It can happen that deminers have to clear a certain number of abandoned bags sometimes. But it’s quite rare for a WW2 bomb.”