The Louvre in Paris closed its doors to visitors for the rest of the day this afternoon for “security reasons”. In the afternoon, the Palace of Versailles was also evacuated. The closure comes a day after a deadly attack on a school in Arras, northern France. A teacher was killed and three others were injured. France has raised its national threat level to the highest level.
LOOK. Images of the evacuation in the Louvre are shared on social media
A spokesperson for the Louvre told the AFP news agency that the museum had received a written message stating that the museum and visitors were in danger. “We have decided to evacuate and close for the rest of the day while we carry out the necessary checks,” the spokesperson said.
It is unclear whether anything suspicious was found in and around the museum. According to the French newspaper Le Parisien, there was a bomb threat while there were about 3,000 visitors in the museum.
The Palace of Versailles, one of the tourist highlights in France, also had to be evacuated this afternoon due to a bomb alarm, the police reported. The report came via an anonymous message on the website moncommissariat.fr, a source close to the case told AFP. The same source said the monument will not be reopened today.
Up to 7,000 soldiers from the French anti-terrorist unit Sentinelle will be deployed this weekend, following the attack in Arras. The suspected perpetrator is said to have shouted “Allahu akbar”. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of “barbaric Islamic terrorism”.
LOOK. France increases safety level to the highest level
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