Global General

Police find nothing after Paris bomb alerts

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-15 08:41

PARIS - Not long after the Eiffel Tower and the square under it were evacuated after a bomb alert on Tuesday night, one Paris railway station near the tower also reported emergent evacuation, but police later confirmed they were false alerts.

Local reports said the first alert was triggered either by a threatening call or the discovery of a suspect package.

However, policemen searching the tower and nearby places told Xinhua reporters that they didn't find anything suspected at the site, adding that the site will open to the public soon.

The evacuation began shortly before 9 pm local time as heavily armed policemen appeared ordering people, mostly tourists, to stay away from the Paris landmark, as well as from the square under the tower.

A policeman confirmed that they had advised about 2,500 people to leave the tower and the zone nearby to either along banks of the Seine River or other safe places. Earlier report said about 25, 000 people were forced to leave.

The second bomb alert was reported before 11 pm at one station of the Regional Express Network called Saint-Michel, not far from the Eiffel Tower, local media cited information from the national railway company and Paris transport operation company.

Paris police later confirmed to Xinhua the relevant evacuation at the railway station, but stressed that it should be another false alert.

The clearance of the station didn't last long, as both connections of the station only closed less than one hour.  

As Eiffel Tower stands at the center of Paris, the clearance of roads below it has sparked traffic chaos.

On July 11, a false bomb threat forced an Air France plane to make emergent landing in Brazil shortly after taking off for Paris.

Last weekend, however, the executive of French Interior Intelligence Agency Bernard Squarcini warned the French soil was threatened by "never higher" risk of terrorist attack.

In 1995, two explosions taking place at Paris metro and in an ashbin near the Triumphal Arch had caused several casualties.