- PARIS: The Roman Catholic shrine of Lourdes reopened for evening services on Sunday after what appeared to be a hoax bomb alert caused French police to evacuate the site on one of its busiest days of the year.
Some 30,000 pilgrims gathered to mark the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary had to be evacuated from the shrine after police receiving an anonymous call that said four bombs would explode on the site at 3 p.m.
“An inspection of the area showed that the threat was unfounded,” a Lourdes spokesman said.
Lourdes, in southwestern France, is where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared more than a dozen times to a young shepherdess, Bernadette Soubirous, 152 years ago.
The town’s Sanctuary, covering 51 hectares and including more than 20 places of worship, hosts millions of pilgrims each year.
The shrine’s website says 67 confirmed “miracle” healings have taken place at Lourdes.