Six French airports, Versailles palace evacuated after security threats
Six airports across France were evacuated on Wednesday after emailed "threats of attack", according to reports from French news agency AFP.
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The evacuations at Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Nice, Toulouse and Beauvais airport near Paris will enable authorities to "clear up any doubts" whether the threats are real, the reports say citing an anonymous source.
A spokeswoman for Strasbourg airport in eastern France also said the site was being evacuated after a "threatening email".
Elsewhere, the Palace of Versailles, a major tourist attraction outside Paris, was evacuated for the third time since Saturday for bomb disposal teams to check the site.
🌍 Dear visitors, for security reasons, the Palace of Versailles is evacuating visitors. Thank you for your understanding. pic.twitter.com/PejKRBSJwp
— Château de Versailles (@CVersailles) October 18, 2023
France on high alert
France is under a state of "terror emergency," the highest level of the Vigipirate alert and protection system following Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel and Friday's fatal stabbing of a teacher in the northern city of Arras by a man claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group.
A second police source said that Nice, Lyon and Lille airports had resumed normal activity around midday.
A spokesman for France's DGAC aviation authority confirmed evacuations over bomb warnings only at Lille, Lyon, Toulouse and Beauvais, and was unable to give further details immediately. The DGAC's online dashboard showed significant delays at Lille, Lyon and Toulouse.
A post on Nice airport's X (formerly Twitter) account said that "following an abandoned baggage item... a security perimeter was set up to allow the usual checks".
"The situation has now returned to normal," it added.
Airport authorities at Lyon's Bron airport also said the all-clear had been given.
In Lille, an airport spokeswoman said three flights had been diverted, while a post on its X account said security forces were on the scene.
Some passengers posting on social media were apparently in the dark about why they were being ushered out of airports.
False alarm
The prefecture for the Lyon region said Wednesday that the threat at the airport was a false alarm and reminded the public that communicating false information can lead to prison and a heavy fine.
Meanwhile an abandoned piece of luggage briefly disrupted operations at the airport in the Riviera city of Nice, the airport said.
The Louvre Museum and the Palais de Versailles were evacuated Saturday, and the royal palace was again evacuated Tuesday.
A high school in Arras, in northern France, was evacuated on Monday ahead of a moment of silence in schools around France, three days after the murder of a teacher at the Arras school allegedly carried out by a former student and suspected Islamist extremist.
France has raised its threat alert to its highest level. The anti-terrorism prosecutor said on Tuesday that the suspect declared his allegiance to the so-called Islamic State group before the fatal stabbing.
(With newswires)
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