August 16, 2010. Normality has returned to the Shrine of Lourdes in France after a bomb scare which turned out to be a hoax. Police evacuated 30.000 pilgrims celebrating the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin.

An anonymous phone call to police warned that four explosives were to be set off in the shrine at 3pm.

After the evacuation, security forces searched the area for the bombs which turned out to be a false alarm.

The procession of the Feast of the Assumption was celebrated on schedule, at 4.30 in the afternoon.

This wasn’t the first time the Shrine has had to deal with a bomb scare. Lourdes was evacuated after a similar episode in 2002.

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