Police tighten security at Geneva airport after French tipoff
Updated: 2016-07-27 17:39
(Agencies)
|
|||||||||
GENEVA - Police in Geneva increased security checks around the Swiss city's Cointrin airport on Wednesday after receiving information from French police about a possible bomb threat.
Preventive security measures were under way around the airport, the police said on their Facebook page, and would continue for an indefinite period.
Officers armed with machine guns were on duty around the airport, which straddles the Swiss border with France, after Geneva police acted on unspecified information from their French counterparts.
Airport officials said the alert was triggered by an anonymous telephone call, without giving further details.
"There was a bomb alert," a security source in the Swiss city told Reuters.
There was also heightened security on the French side of the border.
"The investigation will determine the facts, but it's not in our hands...The French investigators will keep us informed," Geneva police spokesman Guillaume Gentil told Reuters. "The situation at the airport is calm."
France has been on high security alert after a series of attacks, including the murder of a Catholic priest during a church service in northern France by knife-wielding assailants on Tuesday.
The heightened security closed most airport entrances, with armed officers checking the documents of visitors but airport officials said the airport remained open and was functioning normally.
Airport spokesman Bertrand Staempfli advised passengers to arrive early given delays due to extra checks but said there were no serious problems with access.
Today's Top News
Explosion rocks migration office in Germany
Geneva airport tightens security after French tipoff
Bill Clinton portrays Hillary as 'change-maker'
Priest, 84, killed in France, attack claimed by IS
Knife attacker in Japan kills 19 at disabled center
Michelle Obama rocks Democratic convention
Syrian suicide bomber in Germany faces deportation
Shooting at Florida nightclub kills, wounds 16
Hot Topics
Lunar probe , China growth forecasts, Emission rules get tougher, China seen through 'colored lens', International board,
Editor's Picks
Hollywood snaps up rock star's dog film |
Chinese people welcome dispossessed |
The can-do generation to the fore |
Riding the wave |
Leisure giants buoy cruise market |
She followed her heart |