Weapons fear sparks mass evacuation

LILLE, France -- Thousands of people living near a stockpile of World War I ordnance in northern France have been evacuated.

The move came on Friday amid fears that the artillery shells and chemical weapons at an open-air depot at Vimy could explode.

The authorities say some of the 15,000 people affected may not be allowed to return to their homes for several days until the weapons are made safe.

The Interior Ministry said a recent survey of the compound showed the munitions were in a dangerous state of repair, with some of the crates of shells splitting apart.

Around 160 tonnes of bombs, shells and mines are known to be stacked at the Vimy depot.

But it is thought the stockpile also includes shells of mustard gas, the most lethal of all poisonous chemicals used during the 1914-1918 war.

Mustard gas causes internal bleeding, blindness and slowly destroys victims' lungs.

Police have set up a three kilometre (1.8 mile) exclusion zone around the depot and told residents they would not be able to return for around 10 days.

Local officials said between 10,000 and 15,000 people had been told to leave their homes within 24 hours.

"There are serious risks for people living near the Vimy site, in particular from the escape of toxic products which are still active," an interior ministry statement said.

Security forces are guarding the zone as specialists in protective clothing started to check the chemical weapons.

Local hospitals were put on alert in case of disaster.

"This is a serious operation," said Interior Minister Daniel Vaillant.

The ministry said "selected" chemical weapons would be moved to another depot by special convoy next weekend after they had been refrigerated and rendered inert.

Vaillant, who went up to the area close to the city of Lens to see the situation for himself, said: "We cannot exclude further evacuations if the risk level calls for."

Vimy was the scene of intense fighting throughout the 1914-1918 conflict.

More than a million shells were fired at the Germans in the build-up to the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Unexploded shells dating from World War One are still regularly dug up in the region and brought to the site for safe-keeping.

Two people were killed in Vimy in 1998 after one of the shells exploded.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Vimy War Memorial
French Government

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