Bomb threat at Leeuwarden government building forces area evacuation
The police evacuated the area around the provincial government building in Leeuwarden on Wednesday afternoon over a serious threat. According to Leeuwarder Courant, it was a bomb threat which may have specifically mentioned a nail bomb, or another explosive involving shrapnel.
The police cleared the street in front of the provincial government building and all buildings around the Tweebaksmarkt. Police officers in bulletproof vests are at the scene. According to a Leeuwarden Courant reporter in the provincial building, the police instructed people to stay away from the windows and front door. But the atmosphere was not very tense, the reporter said.
About 30 or 40 people were demonstrating in front of the building, a reporter at the scene told the newspaper. It is not clear what the demonstrators were protesting. Two small airplanes flying overhead towed banners stating support for the ongoing protests by farmers in the Netherlands.
Officials working in the building are still inside it with the door closed. According to the newspaper, the assembly of provincial council members was suspended, and councilors were ordered to remain in the Statenzaal, a provincial government hall used for debates. Other staff members are in the committee room downstairs. A police spokesperson told AD that there are about 150 people in the building.
Some of the gathered politicians were holding talks on the Lelylijn. The new train route would directly connect cities in the provinces of Drenthe, Friesland, and Groningen with the Randstad region.
"We have taken these measures because of signals of a suspicious situation. We take these signals seriously and are investigating the nature and background of the report," the police said to AD.
