Six airports in France, including Lille-Lesquin, Nantes, Nice, Toulouse, Lyon, and Beauvais Tillé near Paris, and Ostend-Bruges airport in Belgium received bomb threats on Wednesday morning. Immediate evacuations were initiated.
French airports
The evacuation of passengers at Lille-Lesquin commenced around 10:30, with security services reportedly on-site to manage the situation. Simultaneously, terminals at Toulouse and Beauvais Tillé, in the vicinity of Paris, were also cleared as a precautionary measure.
According to information from “Courrier Picard“, the bomb threats were communicated to airport personnel via email. The nature and credibility of the threats are currently under investigation by authorities.
The French authorities, including anti-terrorism units, are working diligently to assess the validity of the threats and apprehend those responsible.
At Lille Airport, the situation quickly resolved as a piece of abandoned luggage in Terminal 1 prompted security services to neutralise the threat successfully.
Simultaneously, authorities in Lyon have confirmed that the bomb threat there was a false alarm. The regional authorities of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes issued a statement cautioning the public that making false bomb threats is a criminal offence.
???? FAUSSE ALERTE À LA BOMBE à l'aéroport d'affaires de #Bron
Le fait de communiquer une fausse info dans le but de faire croire qu'une destruction dangereuse pour les personnes va être commise est puni de 2ans d'emprisonnement et 30K€
Levée de doute effectuée par les démineurs pic.twitter.com/mvcMewJ5ht
— Préfète de région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes et du Rhône (@prefetrhone) October 18, 2023
Passengers with travel plans are urged to check with their respective airlines for the latest information on flight disruptions and possible delays.
Aéroport de Lille en cours d’évacuation suite à une alerte à la bombe.
Les services de sécurité de l’État sont sur place.
— Aeroport de Lille? (@Aeroport_Lille) October 18, 2023
Ostend-Bruges
Around fifty persons have been instructed to wait outside the terminal building of Ostend-Bruges Airport. An aircraft that had been diverted from Lille Airport, had been positioned on the tarmac while passengers were not allowed to leave the aircraft. A bomb search inside the terminal building was performed.
After the bomb threat earlier today, the airport building has been accessible to the public again since 13:20.
The flight from Malaga/Murcia to Ostend, which has temporarily landed in Brussels for a fuel stop, will soon resume to Ostend. Travellers departing to Tenerife/Gran Canaria can expect their flight to depart from Ostend later today, possibly with a slight delay.
The plane that had diverted from Lille to Ostend will also return to Lille.
