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Bern bomb scare: no danger of explosion

Church and road cordoned off, people on mobile phones
The bomb scare on March 2 caused a major police operation and traffic disruption. Keystone

The young man who threatened to detonate a bomb in a church in the Swiss capital, Bern, earlier this month was not carrying anything dangerous, say police, following an investigation.

The Bern cantonal police said on Friday that there was no danger of fire or explosion. Neither the population nor the emergency services were at risk, a police spokesman explained.

+ Read more about the March 2 bomb scare in Bern

The 21-year-old Afghan is still in custody and a psychiatric evaluation is under way, police said. Investigations are continuing into the young man’s motives and the background to what he did.

The young man threatened to detonate a bomb on the afternoon of March 2 in Bern’s Church of the Holy Spirit, next to the main entrance of the central railway station. This triggered a major police operation that cordoned off much of the area and caused considerable disruption to public transport.


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