Paris evacuates thousands over WWII bomb

RAF bomb discovered last week in suburb of Paris was defused yesterday by military experts, forcing about 6,000 people to be evacuated from their homes.

By Susan Ryan Monday 7 Feb 2011, 1:44 PM

Feb 7th 2011, 1:44 PM 1,410 Views 0 Comments

http://jrnl.ie/79630

Image: Geoff Kirby/Press Association Images

Image: Geoff Kirby/Press Association Images

AROUND 6,000 PEOPLE WERE evacuated from their homes in Paris yesterday morning after an unexploded bomb dropped by the RAF during World War II was found.

The bomb was dropped in March 1942 during an operation aimed at destroying a Renault factory which was being used to manufacture trucks for the occupying Nazi forces.

French police bomb disposal chief Denis Lamotte told France24 that disposing of the bomb went well, adding: “There was no big bang, that’s the main thing”.

The bomb had originally been found a week ago, but experts were only able to start working on defusing it yesterday. Residents of the Parisian suburb were able to return to their homes yesterday afternoon.

The Telegraph reports that the RAF raid on the Renault factory in 1942 was hugely successful and met with little resistance. Just one of the 223 aircraft involved was lost. The pilots were instructed to fly low over the factory before dropping their bombs to minimise strikes on nearby civilians, however thousands were killed in the attack.

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Paris evacuates thousands over WWII bomb