Two more schools in and around the Brussels-Capital Region were evacuated on Thursday morning following new bomb alerts, after a previous wave of threats hit several schools about three weeks ago.
The school management of the Collège Roi Baudouin in the Brussels municipality of Schaerbeek was alerted of a bomb threat around 08:30 on Thursday morning.
"The pupils were evacuated and immediately brought to a safe location and their parents were notified. The school will remain closed for the rest of the day," a spokesperson for the Brussels North police zone confirmed to The Brussels Times.
A security perimeter was immediately set up and the school was evacuated. Police also called in the help of a bomb squad dog, said Yasmina Vanoverschelde, spokesperson for the Brussels Prosecutor's Office. "After a negative sweep and frisk, the security perimeter was lifted. The students were all allowed to leave for home."
Severe penalties for false threats
The Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office has started an investigation to find out who is behind this false bomb threat, and emphasised once again that these incidents are taken "very seriously" and that false bomb threats carry "severe penalties," ranging from three months to two years in prison and a fine of €400 to €2,400.
The other bomb alert took place in the Collège Saint-Gertrude in the Walloon municipality of Nivelles, mayor Pierre Huart told RTL, adding that he was "managing the crisis," but that he did not have "more information to communicate" at the moment.
At the end of October and the start of November, there was a series of bomb threats in several French-speaking schools in Brussels and the Walloon Brabant province. At the end of November, another bomb threat saw nearly 30 schools close down out of precaution, affecting some 10,000 pupils.
Updated at 12:45 to include information given by Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office.
