Louvre and Palace of Versailles evacuated after threats

The Louvre museum in Paris was evacuated and closed at midday on Saturday "for security reasons". Several hours later, the Palace of Versailles was also evacuated following a bomb threat.

A spokesperson for the Louvre said the museum had received a written message on Saturday morning "stating there is a risk to the museum and its visitors". The museum decided to evacuate and close its doors for the rest of the day "to carry out essential checks".

The Palace of Versailles also had to be evacuated on Saturday afternoon due to a bomb alert, police said. The warning came via an anonymous message on the moncommissariat.fr website, a source close to the matter told AFP. The source said the monument would not reopen on Saturday.

France was placed on its highest security alert after a knife attack in the northern town of Arras killed a teacher and injured three others. French President Emmanuel Macron has described the knife attack as the result of "barbaric Islamic terrorism".

^{The Louvre being evacuated for security reasons on Saturday © Hans Lucas via AFP}