Some 25,000 people living in the agglomeration of Boulogne-sur-Mer, in the Pas-de-Calais will be banned from leaving their homes Sunday the time the deminers neutralize a US bomb 250 kg of the Second World War, announced the prefecture Wednesday.
Always present charge, active firing system
The group of Cherbourg divers must intervene to neutralize the machine containing 145 kg of explosives brought to the dock by a fisherman at the end of last week. Stored in a secret place on the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, the ammunition must be neutralized Sunday afternoon during an operation "heavy and not at all ordinary", in the words of the prefect of Pas-de-Calais , Fabien Sudry. "On the Pas-de-Calais coast, we find ammunition once or twice a week.The peculiarity, and therefore the difficulty, is that it is located in urban areas, and that it is a little degraded : the explosive charge is still present and the firing system is not neutralized, "he said.
A team of specialists must intervene to "try to neutralize the sensitive part, then tow the bomb off to blow it up at sea," said Lt. Yann Geffroy, head of the group of mine clearance divers Cherbourg. Nearly 25,000 people in the communes of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Le Portel and Outreau will be involved in the operation: about 600 inhabitants, located within a radius of 250 meters, will be evacuated; others, within a radius of 1,5km, confined.
"From 11am, no one will be able to enter inside the area Drones will make sure that the confinement is respected", said the sub-prefect of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Jean-Philippe Vennin .
Between 350 and 400 soldiers, police, gendarmes, and firefighters will be mobilized for this intervention which will limit road, maritime, air and rail traffic during the duration of the intervention, scheduled until 6:45 pm.