WWII Bomb Forces Paris Neighborhood Evacuation

An unexploded, 1,000-pound World War II bomb found by builders in a neighborhood on the edge of Paris forced 6,000 people to be evacuated from their homes yesterday morning, as authorities worked to diffuse it. The explosive was dropped as part of a major bombing mission in 1942, as the British tried to destroy Nazi-occupied factories and industrial facilities, reports the Telegraph.

Four hundred policemen evacuated the neighborhood for over four hours, until police gave the all-clear. Some people spent the time in local administration buildings or sports halls, while others were given free movie passes and went to the cinema. "It's a very strange situation," said one businessman, "to be forced out of your home by a bomb which was dropped well before most of us were born." (More Paris stories.)