Paris 'bomb threat': Gare de l’Est evacuated after suspicious package found
A police official has said the station has been closed 'as a precaution'
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Your support makes all the difference.A Paris train station has been evacuated and closed following an alleged bomb threat after French police arrested several people overnight in anti-terrorism raids.
The Gare de l’Est has been totally evacuated after an alleged bomb threat. Le Monde is reporting that a bomb disposal unit is already on the ground at the station.
The security scare comes as overnight security police arrested at least 10 individuals in a series of coordinated raids aimed at disrupting suspected jihadist networks facilitating young people travelling to the middle east to fight.
Individuals in Paris, Le Havre and Toulouse were targeted, the Paris prosecutors office told Reuters. The investigation was launched over a year ago after a Turkish family alerted authorities following the suspicious behaviour of their son, BFM-TV reported.
Montrouge, Grigny, Chatenay-Malabry, Epinay-sur-Seine and Fleury-Merogis were also the focus of some of the raids, i-Tele claimed.
They are being questioned over "possible logistical support", a judicial source told AFP, that they could have given to the gunmen - such as vehicles or weapons.
Latest reports emerging from the station suggest that security forces are working to return the situation to normal by 9am.
A police official told the AP the station was closed "as a precaution." The official, who was not authorized to be publicly named, also said the alert was prompted by the presence of abandoned luggage.
The station is one of several major transport hubs in Paris.
The possible threat comes following the deaths of 17 people in the worst terror attacks seen by France in years.
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