Six French Airports Evacuated After Attack Threats

Zac Ntim and Jesse Whittock
·2 min read

Six regional airports across France were evacuated earlier today following security alerts.

Authorities said the series of evacuations took place in Lille, Lyon-Bron, Nantes, Toulouse, Beauvais, just north of Paris, and Nice, the main airport for Cannes, where the Mipcom TV festival is currently underway.

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Local officials said the airports received emails warning of an attack. The news was first reported by Agence France-Presse.

We understand that an unaccompanied piece of luggage was identified at Nice airport, and security officials carried out a controlled explosion, though this couldn’t be officially confirmed. It’s thought the luggage was mistakenly left by a passenger.

Aymeric Staub, a Corporate Communication spokesman for Nice Airport, confirmed there had been an evacuation. “It was just a security measure due to an abandoned luggage,” he said, “but it’s just something that can happen.”

American Airlines, British Airways, United Airlines, and Ryanair fly from Nice Terminal 1. As of midday local time, flights were taking off though some are expecting delays.

France is on its highest state of alert after a man armed with a knife killed a schoolteacher and seriously injured two other people in the northeastern French town of Arras on Friday. French news channel BFMTV said that according to their police sources the man, who was apprehended and is now in police custody, was 20 years old and of Chechen origin. France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor said on Tuesday that the suspect declared his allegiance to the so-called Islamic State group before the attack.

On Tuesday, the Palace of Versailles, one of France’s main tourist sites, closed temporarily in its second security scare in four days. Tension in the country has heightened since the Israel-Hamas conflict began.

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