The day after an Islamist attack in Arras, France lives in fear of attacks: two of the most famous monuments in the world, the Louvre museum and the Palace of Versailles, were evacuated and closed on Saturday after alerts.
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First it was the Louvre, the largest museum in the world located in the heart of Paris, which announced around midday that it would have to exceptionally close. for security reasons “. “ The Louvre received a written message reporting a risk for the museum and its visitors “, specified a spokesperson to AFP, while France is on alert “ emergency attack » the day after the attack in Arras.
“ We have chosen, in the current national context of going on alert “emergency attack”to evacuate it and close it for the day, time to carry out the essential checks », added the spokesperson for the museum, which houses the most famous painting in the world, The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. A security perimeter was set up by the police all around the establishment. The Louvre was unable to specify how many people had been evacuated. In 2022, the museum welcomed 7.8 million visitors.
Evacuation also at the Palace of Versailles
A few hours later, in the afternoon, the Palace of Versailles, a few kilometers from the capital, was also evacuated after a bomb threat, AFP learned from police sources. This bomb threat came via an anonymous message on the site moncommissariat.fr, a source close to the matter told AFP. This same source indicated that the monument would not reopen on Saturday.
According to one of the police sources, the evacuation was intended to carry out checks in order to remove doubts. The castle’s press service confirmed the evacuation, without specifying the reason. This intervention “ concerns the entire castle and estate », added this source. At this time of the end of the high tourist season, “ about 15 000 visitors, mainly French » frequent the entire vast site where the castle of King Louis XIV is located, according to the press service.
In both cases, videos posted on social networks showed visitors leaving the rooms to the sound of alarm sirens, in a visibly feverish atmosphere.
France passed on Friday evening on “emergency attack” alertthe highest level of the Vigipirate system, after the assassination of a teacher, Dominique Bernard, stabbed to death by a radicalized former student in front of a middle school in Arras. This act falls under the “ Islamist terrorism » according to the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron.
The Élysée announced on Saturday the deployment of 7,000 soldiers in the territory. These soldiers will be deployed by Monday evening and until further notice », Specified the Élysée, in a context marked by fears of importation into France of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
(With AFP)