British WW2 bomb weighing half a tonne defused in Normandy port

Operations are underway in Le Havre today (October 11) to defuse a WW2 bomb weighing half a tonne after it was discovered during construction work in the city’s port. 

The 500kg explosive – which has an explosive weight of 100kg, and is thought to have been dropped during the latter part of the war – was found underwater near the Quai de Floride. 

A 400-metre exclusion zone is in place until around midday as experts defuse the bomb, which has laid dormant for around 80 years under the city. 

Roads that will be temporarily closed off include Rue Amiral Durand-Viel, Cours de la Manche, Quai Roger-Meunier, and the Quai Pierre-Callet. 

No evacuations will take place, however, as these roads are in an industrial part of the port with no housing. 

Vast parts of Le Havre were destroyed by Allied bombing during WW2, but it was rebuilt in a modernist style by architect Auguste Perret and is now a Unesco World Heritage site. 

Read more: Architecture of France: Le Havre