ARCHIVED - Bomb scare forces police to close streets in Murcia city this weekend
Several homes in the Murcia district were evacuated as a result of the false bomb threat
Several streets in Murcia city were brought under a rapid lockdown after a false bomb threat was reported on Sunday afternoon, November 20.
Dozens of National and Local Police officers, ambulance crews and firefighters were dispatched to the San Antolín district following several panicked calls to the 112 Emergency Coordination Centre.
Terrified residents phoned the emergency services, reporting that one local man had held a butane canister above his head on his balcony on Calle Gocio shouting “bomb, bomb.” It was initially believed that the man had barricaded himself into his home.
Given the imminent danger, agents from the Special Operations Group, the Tedax bomb squad and the Canine unit also rushed to the scene. The street was blocked off to pedestrians and cars and several nearby houses were evacuated.
A negotiator from the National Police and several other officers approached the apartment where the bomb threat originated, but rather than a man, agents found a middle-aged North African woman living there. She quickly conceded that she didn’t actually have an explosive and the extensive safety device was called off.
According to neighbours who were interviewed shortly afterwards, the woman was due to be evicted from her apartment on Monday, which could explain why she called in the false bomb scare.
Image: Policia Local Murcia
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