By Euro Weekly News Media • Published: 26 Jan 2016 • 16:00
The West Midlands schools evacuated.
A TWITTER group called ‘Evacuators 2K16’ has claimed responsibility for hoax bomb threat calls made to schools across Britain and France on January 26.
Terror threats were issued to 14 schools in the West Midlands, London and Cornwall as well as a further 6 in Paris.
Reports from West Midlands Police confirm that calls were placed to schools in “quick succession,” at 9am on January 26, following on from four similar hoax calls made to schools in Sandwell and Halesowen the previous week.
The London schools received the additional warning that “a suspicious device” was hidden on their premises. According to a spokesperson from the Metropolitan Police, London pupils were evacuated from the targeted buildings as “a precaution while the incidents were looked into.”
Schools in Cornish towns Truro, St Ives and Penzance were also on high alert after receiving threats and evacuating pupils. Officers from Devon and Cornwall Police conducted a search of the schools’ premises before declaring the threat to be ‘non-existent’ and confirming that ‘the incidents are being treated as malicious communications.’
The group behind the ominous Twitter account are said to have affiliations with Russian-based extremists, and use an email address with an “.ru” domain, as well as a profile picture of President Vladimir Putin.
In their profile description, the hoaxers, who claim their aim is to cause “mayhem”, describe themselves as “6 individuals based internationally”. The account’s location is set to “everywhere.”
The Assistant Chief Constable of West Midlands Police has confirmed that an “investigation is underway to find the person responsible for the calls.”
Share this story
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don't already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Download our media pack in either English or Spanish.