French police find bomb-making materials at Paris-area apartment

Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Two men have been arrested near Paris after French police discovered bomb-making materials in a suburban apartment, officials said.

Police stormed the apartment in Villejuif Wednesday after a plumber working there saw what he thought resembled explosives.

One of the two men arrested was a resident of the apartment building, officials said.

The building was evacuated and searched by French police, and the mayor of Villejuif asked residents to avoid the neighborhood altogether.

What was found in the apartment was said to be "capable of entering the composition of explosives."

French media reported that the apartment looked like a 'bomb factory,' with products such as sulfuric acid, acetone, hydrogen peroxide but also electrical components, batteries, basins and of TATP ready for use, along with Arabic writings.

TATP -- an explosive known as "mother of Satan" -- is favored by Jihadists and was recently found in the apartment of suspects in the Barcelona, Spain, attack last month. The homemade explosive can be easily produced from materials available in high street stores.

The Paris Criminal Brigade's anti-terrorist section and the Directorate General of Internal Security have launched an open investigation.

France is still in a state of emergency after the November 2015 terrorist attack in Paris that killed 130 people.