Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Shopping centre evacuated after bomb threats

Police evacuate a shopping centre in Biel following a bomb threat Keystone Archive

A shopping centre, an old people's home and many houses in the town of Lyss in canton Bern were evacuated on Saturday following a telephone warning that a bomb had been planted in a grocery store.

Bern’s police force received a call just before 11am warning that a bomb had been planted in the Migros food store. Following the warning hundreds of people were evacuated from the centre and surrounding buildings.

The police later searched the premises and found no evidence of a bomb and people were allowed back into the building and back into their homes.

In a separate incident, the cantonal police in Biel received an anonymous call just after 1pm saying a bomb had been planted in another of Lyss’s shopping arcades. This time no decision was taken to evacuate the premises.

Saturday’s bomb warnings come just 10 days after police evacuated 250 people from a Migros store in Biel following a telephone bomb threat.

Tensions are riding high when it comes to bomb threats as a result of the devastating terrorist attacks in New York and Washington which have left more than 6,500 people dead or missing.

swissinfo with agencies

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR