Unexploded WWII bomb halts Eurostar travel connecting Paris to London, Brussels

Eurostar trains to and from London and other trains heading northward from Paris were brought to a halt on Friday following the discovery of an unexploded bomb dating back to World War II near tracks serving the French capital’s busy Gare du Nord station.

France’s national train operator SNCF said in a statement that traffic was stopped at the request of police.

French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said traffic would be ‘’strongly disrupted’’ throughout the day with only limited service resuming in the afternoon, and urged travellers to postpone their trips.

The bomb was discovered around 4am 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 on 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.