Eurostar announced the cancellation of all its high-speed trains connecting Paris to London and Brussels on Friday after the discovery of a Second World War-era bomb near the tracks serving Eurostar’s hub in the French capital, Gare du Nord.France’s national train operator SNCF said in a statement that traffic was stopped at the request of police.
“All Eurostar trains are cancelled to and from Paris today,” the rail operator said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. “Eurostar sincerely apologizes for the disruption and understands the inconvenience this may cause. We appreciate everyone’s patience and cooperation during this time.”
The bomb was discovered around 4 a.m. local time by workers doing earth-moving work near the tracks in the Seine-Saint-Denis region. Minesweepers were sent to the site and their operation is still going on. Stranded travellers converged on the station as it opened Friday.
The Gare du Nord is a major European transit hub, serving international destinations north of France such as the EU capital, Brussels, and the Netherlands, as well as the main Paris airport and many regional destinations.
Bombs left over from the First and Second World Wars are regularly discovered around France but it is very rare to find them in such a people-packed location.
French Transport Minister Philippe 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.
