Some 4,500 people were evacuated on Sunday morning in the Vaise district in Lyon to allow the defusing of a 230 kilogram shell dating from World War II, the prefecture said.
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The device, consisting of 150 kilos of explosive charge, was found in the 9th arrondissement on the construction site of a future student residence, around which a security perimeter of 230 meters was installed from 7:30 a.m., noted a journalist from the 'AFP.
The intervention of deminers affected several bus and metro lines until midday.
At the same time, the Lyon-Vaise SNCF station was closed to travelers for the duration of the operation, as was rail traffic, according to the prefecture.
Lyon: 4,500 inhabitants evacuated because of a bomb from World War II JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP
Five temporary reception areas, run by the Red Cross, were made available for evacuated residents who were taken there by the dedicated Lyon public transport (TCL) bus service.