On Saturday afternoon, there were alarms about bomb threats against the Louvre in central Paris and the Palace of Versailles outside the capital, reports Le Figaro. Both museums have been evacuated, but no injuries have been reported.
A spokesperson for the Louvre says it “received a written message stating that there was a risk to the museum and its visitors”, and therefore decided to evacuate and close for the day while carrying out “necessary checks”.
Police say they are looking for possible bombs, but officially the closure has not been linked to a bomb threat.
Investigated as a terrorist crime
The events come a day after a teacher was stabbed to death in the town of Arras in northern France, a crime which is being investigated as a terrorist attack.
– The school attack is the result of barbaric Islamist terrorism, said President Emmanuel Macron during a visit to Arras on Friday.
After the murder, the government raised the terror threat level to the highest level. Then the situation in the Middle East was also given as a reason.
The thousands of soldiers who have been called in as reinforced protection must all be in place by Monday at the latest, the Ministry of the Interior says.
At the same time, France is the host country for the Rugby World Cup, where four matches are played over the weekend. In the arenas and the fan zone in Paris that has been established, security has been increased, according to the police Le Figaro.
Anniversary of teacher murder
Education Minister Gabriel Attal states that the schools in the country must be kept open on Monday, but that all lessons before 10 o’clock must be devoted to conversations about threats and what can be done, as well as how the country can best pay tribute to the murdered teacher.
Monday is also the anniversary of the murder of history teacher Samuel Paty, who was murdered by an extremist in a suburb outside Paris on October 16, 2020. That act left a big mark in France and prompted debates about secularism and condemnation of Islamist expressions.
– We will not give in to violence. We will face it and we will fight it, said Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne during the presentation of the prize awarded in Paty’s memory in Paris.