Bomb threat, armed man: Den Bosch station evacuated twice in three hours

Den Bosch station was evacuated twice on Thursday night. First because a man said he left a bomb at the station, and then after a report of an armed person on a train. According to the police, the two incidents are not connected, NU.nl reports.

Around 8:00 p.m. the police responded to Den Bosch station in large numbers after a man said he'd left a bag containing a bomb at the station. "With such a report we obviously take no risks", the Oost-Brabant police said on Twitter. The entire station was evacuated and the surrounding area closed off. A SWAT team, explosive experts from the police and Defense's explosive ordnance disposal squad searched the station. No bomb was found.

A suspect was arrested in the vicinity of the station about an hour after the report. According to the police, he had a bag with him. It was searched, but did not contain anything suspicious. The 38-year-old man from The Hague was taken to a police station for further investigation. "We will investigate the backgrounds of this man", the police said.

The police responded to the station again at around 10:30 p.m., this time because of a report of a person with a firearm on a train. The platform where the train arrived was evacuated. The police searched the train, but found no one carrying a weapon. The report turned out to be about a man who walked back and forth in the train and quarreled with other passengers, NU.nl reports.

According to the police, he made a hand gesture that made other passengers think he had a gun. No one was arrested. 

Train traffic around Den Bosch was halted during both incidents. Trains started running on schedule again about 30 minutes after the second report, according to the newspaper.