Bomb threats cause multiple French airports, Versailles to shut down

Multiple airports in France had to remain shut on October 18 following various "threats of attack" on them as the country has raised its alert level to the highest possible following a knife attack.

As reported by Euronews, the Parisian Beauvais, Strasbourg, Nantes, Biarritz Toulouse, Lille and Lyon-Bron airports all had to be evacuated after having received bomb threats. They resumed operations once police intervened and conducted a thorough investigation into the matter.

Nice Airport also had to evacuate after an unattended item had been located, but resumed flights later in the day.

Additionally, the Palace of Versailles was also a target of security threats on that day, marking the third such occasion in less than a week. A suspicious item was discovered at the popular tourist destination on Tuesday while a bomb threat caused it to close down over the weekend.

These security concerns occur in light of a knife attack at a school in the northern city of Arras the previous week, in which multiple teachers were attacked by a 20-years-old men of Chechen origin who was under “active police surveillance” prior to the incident, which resulted in one death.