Eight French airports hit by security alerts
French police at Chateau de Versailles, the Palace was evacuated for security reasons, in Versailles, near Paris, France, October 17, 2023. PHOTO: REUTERS
Eight French airports faced security alerts on Wednesday and several were evacuated for checks, the DGAC aviation authority said, and the Palace of Versailles closed again due to its third security scare in five days.
The airports affected were Toulouse, Biarritz and Pau in the southwest, Nice in the southeast, Lyon in the east, Lille in the north, and Rennes and Nantes in western France, according to a DGAC spokesperson and the interior ministry.
Lille airport was evacuated due to a bomb scare, the airport had said earlier in the day on social media platform X.
"State security teams are on site," the airport said.
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France is on its highest state of alert after the Oct. 13 murder of a schoolteacher in a suspected Islamist attack.
The Palace of Versailles, one of France's main tourist attractions, said it was again evacuating visitors for security reasons.
On Saturday, a day after the fatal stabbing of the teacher, bomb alerts that proved false forced the evacuation of the Louvre museum, the palace and Paris' Gare de Lyon train station.