Paris church evacuated after woman brings found grenades to service

A church in Paris's 13th arrondissement was evacuated on Sunday morning after an elderly woman brought two discovered grenades to the building. The incident occurred at the Notre-Dame-de-la-Gare church around 10:20 a.m., just before a service was scheduled to begin. The woman had found the two devices in the common areas of her apartment building, near her cellar. She decided to show them to the priest, who promptly moved the grenades to the sacristy and alerted emergency services. Police quickly arrived at the scene, evacuating approximately 100 parishioners and establishing a security perimeter around the church. Technicians from the Prefectural Police's Central Laboratory, accompanied by a canine unit, were called to examine the objects. By 11:20 a.m., bomb disposal experts confirmed that the grenades posed no danger. One was identified as a plaster grenade, and the other as a smoke grenade. Following this assessment, the security measures were lifted, and the church service proceeded as planned. A search of the woman's apartment yielded no further grenades. The priest reportedly stated he did not wish to press charges.

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The police, quickly alerted, evacuated about a hundred parishioners.