Firefighters discovered a shell in the Garonne, in the city center of Toulouse, during a diving exercise Thursday, June 30. The device is still in its place. Nearby navigation is prohibited.

The exercise is customary, but it has taken an exceptional turn. While training for diving in the Garonne, at the Filters meadow in the center of Toulouse, firefighters fell on a shell during the afternoon of Thursday June 30.

The demining service was contacted and went to the scene. He revealed that the discovery poses no risk. The decision was therefore made to leave the shell where it is, at the bottom of the Garonne, for the time being. The demining service will be needed to take care of it.

In the meantime and as a precaution, the prefecture of Haute Garonne to decide to issue an order providing that “navigation is prohibited within a perimeter of 25 meters around the buoy materializing the location of a shell discovered at the bottom of the water and located near the Filtres meadow about ten meters from the bank and 200 meters upstream from the Pont Neuf”.

Shells discovered in Toulouse

The discovery of the shell by the firefighters of Toulouse at the bottom of the Garonne takes on an unusual character, but it is not exceptional. After all, the city was bombed during World War II. A similar device was found last year in a work area near the Mirail public finance center. Another was spotted on the site of the old Latécoère halls in Montaudran in 2019. And the previous year, a shell was discovered during the construction of the Jean-Jaurès ramblas.