By Samantha Jones-
A French hospital was partially evacuated Saturday after a senior citizen arrived with a World War I artillery shell lodged in his rectum.
The unnamed senior citizen arrived at the Hospital Sainte Musse in Toulon, southern France on Saturday evening in the hope of having the artillery shell dislodged from his anus.
His arrival sparked a bomb scare as hospital officials feared the antique explosive would detonate, French news organisation Var-Matin reported.
The 88-year-old patient visited Hospital Sainte Musse in Toulon to have the antique explosive removed — but instead sparked a “bomb scare,” French publication Var-Matin reported.
It is understood that the man had inserted it in his bottom for sexual pleasure.
A spokesperson for Hospital Sainte Musse said: ‘An emergency occurred from 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Saturday evening that required the intervention of bomb disposal personnel, the evacuation of adult and pediatric emergencies as well as the diversion of incoming emergencies.’
The spokesperson added: ‘We had to manage the risk in a reactive framework. When in doubt, we took all the precautions.’
Despite doctors being understandably fearful for their safety if they were to surgically remove the object, detonation experts were able to put them at ease.
It emerged that the bomb was a collectors item from the First World War and was a commonly used explosive by the French military in the early 1900s.
“An emergency occurred from 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Saturday evening that required the intervention of bomb disposal personnel, the evacuation of adult and pediatric emergencies as well as the diversion of incoming emergencies,” a hospital spokesperson stated.
“We had to manage the risk in a reactive framework,” the rep added. “When in doubt, we took all the precautions.”