Workers discovered an unexploded World War II bomb under the train tracks about 1 1/2 miles north of Gare du Nord station in Paris early Friday morning, according to NBC.
The discovery led to major travel delays affecting local and international passengers as officials worked to remove and dispose of the bomb.
Additionally, all homes with windows in a 500-meter (around 1,600 feet) radius of the unexploded bomb’s location in the Paris suburb, Saint-Denis, were evacuated during the removal process, per the BBC.
A video from Global News shows the crowds at the train station, as well as the bomb that was found under the tracks.
The video shows efforts made by police, train officials and Eurostar to keep travelers safe and help with the unexpected transportation stop.
French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot explains that trains could start to slowly be in service but not until they receive the “green light from the police.”
The video also shares experiences of travelers at the train station.
CNN reported that the atmosphere at Gare du Nord was calm as train staff and security helped passengers looking for more information.
The Gare du Nord station is the busiest in Europe, as it has an estimated 220 million visitors traveling through every year, according to CNN.
French authorities have determined that the bomb is likely an American-made bomb that was dropped by the British Royal Air Force before the D-Day landing in Normandy, according to The Telegraph.
Unexploded bombs from WWII
It’s not uncommon for unexploded bombs from World War I and II to be discovered around France, NBC reported.
In 2019, an almost 1,000-pound bomb was found at a construction site near Gare du Nord and resulted in the Eurostar being disrupted and nearly 2,000 people being evacuated.
The recently discovered bombs are among the nearly 2,000 bombs that were dropped during one of the most severe wartime bombardments in France. Those bombardments aimed to disrupt the railway networks and supply lines, according to The Telegraph.
Unexploded bombs have been found in other parts of the world, as well.
Just last month, 176 World War II bombs were found under a children’s park in northern England, reported the BBC. While they were identified as just practice devices, they still contained a charge.