A hospital in Toulouse, France, was evacuated after doctors discovered an unexploded World War I artillery shell lodged in a patient's rectum. The 24-year-old man had arrived at the Rangueil Accident and Emergency unit in severe pain, but did not disclose that the object was a munition.
During surgery, medical staff identified the eight-inch-long ordnance as a WWI shell dating back to 1918. Bomb disposal experts were called to the scene, and the hospital was partially evacuated as a precaution. The fire brigade also stood by while the shell was safely removed.
The patient, who has not been named, may face legal action for potential violations of French weapons legislation. An investigation into how he obtained the shell and the circumstances of its insertion is ongoing.
This is not the first such incident; in 2022, an 88-year-old patient caused a partial evacuation at a hospital in southeast France with a similar problem. Unexploded munitions from WWI are still commonly found in French farmland, often during the 'iron harvest', and can remain dangerous even after a century.
