The Louvre in Paris has been evacuated after a bomb threat, amid heightened security fears in France.
Thousands of visitors were seen leaving the art museum when the hugely popular attraction was closed early on Saturday because of a written warning.
Parents were seen dragging their children towards the exits as alarms rang out through the vast building in central Paris overlooking the River Seine.
The museum was sealed off by police following the incident— (AP)
The evacuation was announced at 11am, with tourists seen flooding out of the underground shopping centre beneath its iconic glass pyramid.
A spokesperson for the museum said the response was linked to the government’s decision to put France on high alert after a fatal school stabbing by a suspected extremist.
“The Louvre received a written message stating that there was a risk to the museum and its visitors”, they said after announcing the closure on social media. “We have decided ... to evacuate and close it for the day, while we carry out the necessary checks”.
The Louvre communication service added that no one had been hurt. Videos posted online showed people leaving, some hurriedly and others stopping to take photos.
The Louvre, home to masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa, is the world’s most-visited art gallery, welcoming between 30,000 and 40,000 people per day.
The incident came after the French government raised the threat alert level and deployed 7,000 troops to increase security after Friday’s school attack.
French authorities say a former student suspected of Islamic radicalisation killed a teacher and wounded three other people before being captured.
A woman comforts her children at the door of the Gambetta-Carnot public school on Saturday after the previous day’s killing in Arras— (Getty)
Dominique Bernard, 57, a French literature teacher, was stabbed to death in the courtyard of the Gambetta-Carnot secondary school in Arras. Three other members of staff were injured, two of them critically.
The suspect, identified by prosecutors as Mohamed M, who has been arrested, was a former student of the Lycee Gambetta high school where the attack happened, a police source said. One of the attackers’ brothers was also detained nearby.
Numerous witnesses heard the attacker shouting “Allahu Akbar”, according to prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard. The government is also concerned about the fallout in France from the war between Israel and Hamas.
