A bomb threat has been issued in Paris after police found a “suspicious object” near an Olympic venue.
The area around Porte de Paris train station in Saint-Denis has been cordoned off as police wait for a specialist bomb squad to arrive. Image defeated.
The station, which is close to the Stade de France stadium where the Olympic Games have been held since yesterday, has also been closed due to the threat.
Many of the events scheduled to take place today are now taking place at the National Stadium in the north of Paris.
The stadium was reportedly empty when the bomb alert was sounded this afternoon, after the first Olympic session of the day ended at 1pm.
The second session of the evening starts at 5:40 PM and will once again see hundreds of sports fans flock to the stadium.
But it is still unclear whether the affected train station will be open again by then.
According to French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, authorities did not identify any “tangible” terrorist threats during the first week of the Olympic Games.
In the same week, about 200 people were arrested by security forces for various crimes.
Mr Darmanin released the first official statistics on security at the Paris Olympics during a visit to a police station in Saint-Denis.
He said that about 200 people have been arrested since July 26, of whom 180 have been detained by police.
According to Darmanin, among them there are also “people” who “could have committed” attacks, including on the day of the opening ceremony.
But, he added, “there was no question and to date we are not aware of any tangible threat from (terrorist) organizations… There is no question of an organized attack that we are aware of.”
Mr Darmanin also stressed that in Paris and the surrounding suburbs there has been a 24% reduction in violent thefts and a 10% reduction in car thefts.
“Petty crime has generally decreased significantly, probably because there are many more police and gendarmes in public spaces,” he said.
Mr Darmanin will remain in an interim role at the Interior Ministry until a new government is formed after parliamentary elections earlier this month.
France is deploying around 30,000 police officers daily to ensure security during the Olympic Games, with a maximum of 45,000 for the opening ceremony on the Seine.
The security forces are also supported by a contingent of 10,000 soldiers who have set up the largest military camp in Paris since World War II. From there, the soldiers should be able to reach all the Olympic venues in the city within 30 minutes.
This is a breaking news story. More to come.