Athens roads shut after machine part mistaken for WWII shell

Police block the Athens' main Syntagma square during an operation on Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Police in Greece have cordoned off an area near the country's parliament after workers found what is believed to be a decades-old mortar shell during maintenance on the water mains. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

Members of the military and police at the site of an operation on Ermou Street, Athens' main shopping area on Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Police in Greece have cordoned off an area near the country's parliament after workers found what is believed to be a decades-old mortar shell during maintenance on the water mains. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

A military officer walks attends an operation at Ermou Street, Athens' main shopping area on Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Police in Greece have cordoned off an area near the country's parliament after workers found what is believed to be a decades-old mortar shell during maintenance on the water mains. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

by The Associated Press
| March 31, 2020 9:34 AM

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Roads near Greece's parliament building in central Athens were cordoned off for hours Tuesday due to a bomb scare that turned out to be a false alarm.

Authorities said several streets around Syntagma Square, in front of parliament, were blocked to traffic and pedestrians after a crew doing excavation work for a water main maintenance found what was initially believed to be a World War II-era mortar shell.

A bomb-disposal team from the Greek army determined it was a rusting machine part used by the power utility. Police reopened the roads that were blocked for about three hours.

Circulation restrictions are already in effect in Athens and across Greece due to the coronavirus crisis.