A hospital in Toulouse, France, was evacuated after doctors discovered a live First World War artillery shell inside a patient during emergency surgery.
The incident occurred late on Saturday night, January 31, at the Rangueil Hospital accident and emergency unit, after a 24-year-old French man arrived in “extreme discomfort.” Officials reported that the patient had inserted a large object into his rectum, prompting urgent medical intervention.
During the emergency procedure, surgeons were shocked to find an unexploded brass-and-copper artillery shell dating from the 1910s. The pointed shell measured nearly eight inches in length and just over an inch in width.
Such shells were widely used against British and French forces on the Western Front between 1914 and 1918. Many remain buried and are often uncovered during what is known as the “Iron Harvest,” the annual discovery of unexploded ordnance in European farmlands and construction sites.
Hospital staff immediately contacted bomb disposal experts, while firefighters were placed on standby due to the risk of detonation. A security perimeter was established, and staff and patients were evacuated from parts of the hospital as a precaution. The bomb disposal team successfully removed the shell, which posed no further danger.
The patient remains in hospital and is expected to be questioned by police. French authorities are reportedly considering legal action under laws regulating “category A munitions,” a serious offence.
Local reports suggest the incident may have been linked to a party stunt, with Toulouse medical staff noting that they are “accustomed to treating victims injured during sexual games.” The exact circumstances of how the shell came to be inside the man have not been confirmed.
