Bomb alert at Paris-Beauvais airport, a thousand passengers evacuated

2023-10-18 13:48:21

Like eight other airports in France, Beauvais-Tillé (Oise) was also targeted by a bomb threat leading to the evacuation of the two terminals this Wednesday morning. By late morning, it was impossible to access the airport site. “It was an anonymous email received around 11 a.m. which led us to immediately evacuate,” confirms Edo Friart, the airport’s commercial director. Soldiers, gendarmes and firefighters are on site to support the deminers who, with a dog team, comb all the infrastructures including the tracks

The security perimeter was extended to the airport car parks, leaving a thousand passengers helpless on site. Three flights have so far been canceled, to Venice and Turin (Italy) or Cluj (Romania). Several flights had to be diverted to Charleroi (Belgium) and Paris Vatry (Marne).

Passengers evacuated to a gymnasium

“We were going to Turin, we have the cancellation email, we don’t really know how it will go, we had already spent 400 euros for these tickets, we hope to find another flight”, sigh Nora and Ichem who came from Troyes . Stéphane, arriving from Rouen, hoped to be able to catch his flight to Porto (Portugal). “We have no information at the moment,” he whispers. Around 1 p.m., the passengers were taken in groups of 40 to a gymnasium in the area.

After waiting in front of the airport, passengers began to be evacuated to a gymnasium in the city at the start of the afternoon.

Contacted the public prosecutor of Beauvais, Frédéric Trinh, confirms “the receipt of a threat” followed by “the partial evacuation of the airport”. “Fortunately, this threat has not yet been followed by any effects,” he emphasizes. And to specify that the investigations are oriented towards facts of disclosure of “false information with the aim of making people believe that destruction, damage or deterioration dangerous to people will be or has been committed”, an offense punishable by two years of imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros.

The legal procedure was entrusted to the Oise border police. “We are currently checking whether it is possible to make a connection with what is happening at the same time in other airports currently. And if necessary the possibility of grouping the procedures,” indicates Frédéric Trinh.