Eurostar announced the cancellation of all its high -speed trains connecting Paris to London and Brussels Friday after the discovery of a World War Bomb near the tracks serving the Eurostar center in the French capital, Gare du Nord. The national operator of the French Train SNCF SNCF in a press release that traffic had been arrested at the request of the police.
“All Eurostar trains are canceled in Paris and from Paris today,” the rail operator said in a press release sent to the Associated Press. “Eurostar sincerely apologizes for disruption and understands the drawbacks that this can cause. We appreciate everyone’s patience and cooperation during this period.”
The bomb was discovered around 4 am, workers doing earthmoving work near the slopes of the Seine-Saint-Denis region. Mine flirtators have been sent to the site and their operation is still in progress. Blocked travelers converged on the station when it opened on Friday.
The Gare du Nord is a large European public transport center, serving international destinations in the north of France, such as the EU capital, Brussels and the Netherlands, as well as the main Paris airport and many regional destinations.
The bombs left from the first and second world wars are regularly discovered around France, but it is very rare to find them in a place also full of people.
The French Minister of Transport, Philippe Tabarot, speaking on the South Radio broadcaster, said that local residents and people near stations should have “no fear” of a risk of explosion, highlighting the procedures in place to defuse and eliminate such bombs.
