Twenty schools including one in Marseille targeted by terrorist threats
The threats of attacks were sent by the secure messaging system of high school and college students, as was the case for a student from Marseille.
Evacuations took place on Monday January 2 and Tuesday January 3, back-to-school day, in around twenty schools in France following threats of bomb or explosive attacks made on hacked digital workspaces.
In Marseille, the public prosecutor Dominique Laurens confirms that the messaging system of a student from an establishment in Marseille has been hacked. The police headquarters and the rectorate contacted by France 3 Paca ensure that the targeted establishment has not been evacuated and that the prosecution is seized of the case.
According to the Ministry of National Education, contacted by AFP, “about twenty establishments (middle and high schools) were affected in mainland France by these messages carrying threats of attacks, mainly in the Lille academy, and to a lesser extent in those of Créteil, Grenoble, Versailles, Normandy and Lyons“.
“These messages were spotted by parents on WhatsApp, Snapchat or on internal messaging establishments “, added the ministry.
According to a police source, there have been evacuations for “dispel doubt“in establishments in Seine-et-Marne, La Madeleine (Nord), Rillieux-la-Pape (Rhône), Caen or even Carvin (Pas-de-Calais).
Tuesday morning, the day of recovery after the Christmas holidays, a high school, a college and a school, located in the same perimeter, were thus evacuated to Carvin “following a threat of explosives” against the school, according to the prefecture of No Calais.
For these facts, which gave rise to “thorough inspection” of the Diderot high school in Carvin and the neighboring college, the Béthune public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation on the grounds of “threats to commit a crime”, he announced Tuesday in a press release. No trace of explosives was found.
According to the Lille rectorate, the Baggio high school had already been evacuated on Monday but only the staff were present, not the students.
The Valentine-Labbé high school in La Madeleine (North) was also evacuated on Monday. “A message will be sent to all the principals asking them to be vigilant and to warn the police services” if necessary, indicated the rectorate of Lille.
In the Rhône, the Camus-Sermenaz multipurpose high school, in Rillieux-la-Pape, was temporarily evacuated Tuesday morning after a bomb alert. According to the town hall, the threat was issued by several emails.
With AFP