some residents live surrounded by shells

A billion shells fired along the front line in 14-18. 110 years later, a quarter would still not have exploded, nor would a tenth of the munitions launched during the Second World War. So these are hundreds of millions of time bombs. In Nord-Pas-de-Calais, mine clearance operations are continuing, already 640 since January, two just this week.

This Wednesday morning for example, a new operation under high security from dawn. On the beach, the operation is delicate. A Second World War defense block discovered by a walker is still explosive. Six deminers are at work. At 7 a.m., a first explosion took place to split the block. An hour later, the two anti-tank mines it contained were neutralized. Living with danger, many residents have become accustomed to this situation. More than a century later, it will still be hundreds of years before we can hope to be able to get rid of it completely.