Palace of Versailles, airports in France evacuated over bomb scare
Paris, Oct 19 (EFE).- The Palace of Versailles was evacuated on Thursday, for the fourth time since Saturday due to bomb alerts that also led French authorities to evacuate at least eight airports due to terrorist threat.
The Palace of Versailles, in a post on social media platform X – formerly Twitter -, said the latest evacuation was “for security reasons” and that it would reopen as soon as possible.
The Palace, among the biggest tourist attractions in France and located some 20 kilometers south of Paris, had been evacuated earlier due to other bomb alerts on Saturday last week, and Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
Moreover, for the second consecutive day at least 14 French airports received bomb alerts Thursday and at least eight of them were evacuated, leading to multiple flight delays and cancellations.
On Wednesday, there were bomb threats at 17 airports in France, of which 15 were evacuated, leading to 130 flights suspended and dozens more delayed.
The government has issued warnings to those behind the threats, with Justice Minister Éric Dupont-Moretti promising to “punish” the perpetrators.
Transport ministry head Clément Beaune said such bomb hoaxes carry penalties of up to two years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros, and that a complaint is being filed for each alert. EFE
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