Visitors to the Louvre in Paris were forced to leave the place this Saturday as the museum was closed ‘for security reasons’, an event that comes at a time when France is on high alert following an attack in the city of Arras, in the northeast of the country.
France raised its maximum alert level on Friday after a man stabbed a teacher to death and seriously injured three other people at a school.
A spokesman for the Louvre, the world’s largest museum, told AFP it had “received a written notice stating that there was a risk to the museum and its visitors”.
“We have decided, in the current national context of an ’emergency attack’ warning, to evacuate and close it for today while we carry out the necessary checks,” the same source said.
Arras police arrested the alleged attacker, Mohammed Moguchkov, who used the Arabic phrase “Allahu akbar!” called out. (Allah is good!) Authorities have suggested a likely link to ongoing violence in the Middle East, with President Emmanuel Macron condemning an act of “Islamic terror.”
The Louvre informed visitors who had booked tickets for this Saturday that they would be refunded.
Source: DN
