Lourdes, France, Aug 16, 2010 / 03:44 am
Tens of thousands of people were forced to evacuate the Marian Sanctuary in Lourdes on Sunday because of a bomb threat. Allowed to return later in the day, the faithful resumed with the programmed schedule of worship and took part in the traditional afternoon procession.
The estimated number of pilgrims in Lourdes on Sunday was put at about 30,000 by local media, with large delegations coming particularly from France and Italy.
According to Agence France Presse (AFP), at around noon an anonymous call was made to the local police station warning that four bombs would explode at 3 p.m., the time that Mass was scheduled to start.
Having evacuated the sanctuary, police and bomb-sniffing dogs conducted a search of the site. It was reopened to the masses at around 4 p.m. when no explosives were found.