Gare du Nord station, in central Paris, France has reopened after it was evacuated for hours due to a potential bomb threat, and train travel from the hub was suspended. The alert was sparked by reports of unattended luggage.
Hundreds of people were left standing outside the station on Wednesday, after police ordered its evacuation. It was reopened shortly before 6pm local time.
Des milliers de personnes ont été évacuées de la #GareduNord à #Paris après la découverte d’un colis suspect. pic.twitter.com/eUpMJSmRiL
Evacuation of Paris’ Gare du Nord station after a reported bomb threatTraffic to and from the area is interrupted, as unverified footage appears to show the station emptying out.Follow our Telegram https://t.co/gtQwYY5p2Npic.twitter.com/ezggrMRyN7
Living in interesting times as always. Gare du Nord has been evacuated due to an unattended baggage. Armed police are everywhere. Walking chaperoned through the empty Eurostar platform was eerie.#garedunordevacuéepic.twitter.com/DovIwOqOg7
We missed our Eurostar due to SNCF delay.Got our new tickets. Through security.Then:All of gare du nord evacuated.Now on pavement with 1000s of others.Bomb squad here & suited up.I thought our first holiday W/O kids might go smoother.#garedunordevavueepic.twitter.com/s5viUrrBZL
The operator Transport Express Regional tweeted that travel from the station would be interrupted for a period due to the ongoing investigation, while the company responsible for the Paris Metro announced that trains were not running in either direction between Paris Gare de Lyon and Paris Nord. The Paris Metro group confirmed that the incident was related to an item of unattended luggage.
The station, one of the largest in the French capital, also receives the Eurostar train from London and serves Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Photos and footage from outside the station showed large crowds waiting on the streets of the 10th arrondissement for the all-clear. Some commenters on Twitter reported that the bomb squad had arrived to investigate the item in question.
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