2023-10-14 17:26:28
By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 4 minutes ago, Updated now
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“For security reasons”, the Louvre Museum and the Palace of Versailles exceptionally closed their doors on Saturday October 14 at midday.
The day after an Islamist attack in Arras, France lives in fear of attacks: two of the most famous monuments in the world, the Louvre museum and the Palace of Versailles, were evacuated and closed on Saturday after alerts.
In both cases, videos posted on social networks showed visitors leaving the rooms to the sound of alarm sirens, in a visibly feverish atmosphere. First it was the Louvre, the largest museum in the world located in the heart of Paris, which announced around midday that it would have to exceptionally close.for security reasons». «The Louvre received a written message reporting a risk for the museum and its visitors», Specified a spokesperson to AFP, while France is on “emergency attack” alert the day after the attack in Arras.
«We have chosen, in the current national context of going into emergency attack alert, to evacuate it and close it for the day, while we carry out the essential checks.», added the spokesperson for the museum, which houses the most famous painting in the world, The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. A security perimeter was set up by the police all around the establishment. The Louvre was unable to specify how many people had been evacuated. In 2022, the museum welcomed 7.8 million visitors.
A few hours later, in the afternoon, the Palace of Versailles, a few kilometers from the capital, was also evacuated after a bomb threat, AFP learned from police sources. This bomb threat came via an anonymous message on the site moncommissariat.fr, a source close to the matter told AFP. This same source indicated that the monument would not reopen on Saturday.
Remove doubts
According to one of the police sources, the evacuation was intended to carry out checks in order to remove doubts. Contacted by AFP, the castle’s press service confirmed the evacuation, without however specifying the reason. This intervention “concerns the entire castle and estate», added this source. At this time of end of high tourist season, “around 15,000 visitors, mainly French» frequent the entire vast site where the castle of King Louis XIV is located, according to the press service.
France went on Friday evening on “emergency attack” alert, the highest level of the Vigipirate system, after the assassination of a teacher, Dominique Bernard, stabbed to death by a radicalized former student in front of a middle school in Arras . This act constitutes “Islamist terrorism” according to the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron. The Élysée announced on Saturday the deployment of 7,000 soldiers in the territory. These soldierswill be deployed by Monday evening and until further notice», Specified the Élysée, in a context marked by fears of importation into France of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Also in Paris, one of the halls of the Gare de Lyon, where major rail lines to the south-east of France depart, was evacuated due to an abandoned object. “This is a usual intervention“, there is “nothing in particular», However, tempered an SNCF spokesperson, contacted by AFP.
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