Bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled underground detonation of a World War II explosive near Paris on Sunday, an AFP journalist reported, after authorities evacuated more than a thousand residents.

Nearly 800 police cordoned off the site in the northwest suburb of Colombes, where the device was first discovered on April 10.

An AFP journalist heard the explosion around 3:20pm (1320 GMT) as experts detonated the bomb in a two-metre-deep (6.5-foot) pit.

Officials also confirmed the operation had been carried out.

The controlled explosion was ordered after specialists had failed in one bid to remove the detonator from the explosive, which measured more than one metre in length, excluding the tail section.

Footage of the operation showed rusted metal fragments at the bottom of a sand pit, reinforced with thick timber planks and concrete walls.

Residents within a 450-metre radius were told early Sunday to move to local reception centres. Authorities expect to allow them back into their homes later in the day. Some local roads were closed to traffic and public transport.

Local official Alexandre Brugere on Thursday had described the operation as “risky” and requiring a “high level of preparation”.

Unexploded World War II ordnance is still found across Europe, particularly in Germany where bombs are regularly discovered on construction sites, 80 years after the conflict ended.

In 2025, the discovery of a 500-kilogramme wartime bomb halted traffic at the Paris Gare du Nord station, France’s busiest railway terminus.