All-out battle this Friday evening on the boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, in Paris (Xe). Around 8 p.m., in front of the Strasbourg Saint-Denis metro station, the police carried out a traffic check. Their attention was drawn to a strange suitcase that was in the vehicle. The object was equipped with a device connected to an apparent wifi antenna.
When in doubt, the patrol gives the alert and reinforcements arrive in large numbers. They set up a security perimeter around the Ark and screen-printed cars block traffic in this large artery. “It was impossible to pass, I stayed there for at least half an hour before being able to take the metro”, says a witness. Deminers from the police prefecture laboratory arrived on the scene and blew up the suspicious object around 8:30 p.m. “I heard a big boom and a policeman guarding the crossroads told me that he was going to reopen traffic soon,” adds this young woman.
It was a false alarm
Finally more fear than harm. “There was nothing dangerous in this briefcase, it is a simple removal of doubt as often happens during this festive period”, notes a police source.