Louvre Museum And Versailles Palace Evacuating Visitors After Terror Threat
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
PARIS (Worthy News) – France’s famed landmarks, the Louvre Museum and the Versailles Palace in Paris, were evacuated due to bomb threats on Saturday as France was put on high-security alert a day after a teacher was stabbed to death in the city of Arras in an Islamic terror attack.
Louvre said it had received a “written threat.” It added that its decision to evacuate visitors was linked to the government’s decision to put France on high alert after a fatal stabbing of a teacher by a suspected Islamist extremist.
Later on Saturday, officials at the Palace of Versailles also closed the tourist hotspot and its surrounding gardens without confirming a reason. Videos posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, showed an alarm sounding in the castle during an evacuation.
The Louvre communication service said no one had been hurt, and no incident had been reported. Paris police said verifications in the museum are underway and cordoned off the area.
The French government raised the threat alert level and deployed 7,000 troops to increase security after Friday’s school attack.
A terror attack would have a massive impact as the Louvre, home to masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa, welcomes between 30,000 and 40,000 visitors per day. The Versailles Palace, park, and gardens have even more visitors, with about 15 million people touring the site annually, making it one of the world’s most popular tourist attractions, according to official data.
FRENCH EVACUATIONS
The evacuations came as France was put on a nationwide terrorism security alert after a teacher was killed Friday in the city of Arras, located about 184 kilometers (115 miles) north of Paris, the capital.
Two staff members, including a security guard reportedly in critical condition, were injured in a knife attack at the Gambetta School.
Eleven people have been arrested in connection with the case, French media said, citing police sources, with the main suspect identified as a former Gambetta student known to the police for having links to Islamic extremists.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the attack as “Islamist terrorism” and thanked law enforcement and police for their “fast response” during a visit to Arras on Thursday.
“I wanted to be present today in Arras. Here, in this school that has been struck once again by the barbarity of Islamist terrorism,” he said. “I would like to congratulate and Salute the responsiveness of the internal security services, the judiciary, and the rescue and care services.
“The police were able to intervene a few minutes, four minutes, after the call. And it is because of the speed of their reaction and the great professionalism of our police officers that we were undoubtedly able to avoid an even more serious result,” he added.
Europe has been on heightened terror alert following calls by the Palestinian Hamas group for rage after its mass killings in Israel prompted Israeli retaliatory strikes in Gaza. France’s attack and threats underscored broader concerns in Europe about Islamist terror.
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