The spokesperson for the Brussels-North police zone confirmed to this newspaper that the King Baudouin College in Schaarbeek received a bomb threat on Friday morning. The students of the school were evacuated and the school informed the parents about the report by email. The police quickly arrived on the scene. “The school was evacuated and an investigation has been opened. There is no reason to panic,” the police spokesperson said. “On Friday afternoon the police were still on the grounds combing the school. The students were all sent home.”
School buildings at the Berlaymont school center were also evacuated in Waterloo on Friday after a bomb threat, local authorities report. The buildings will probably be searched until the end of the morning, Mayor Florence Reuter said. A security perimeter has also been established around the school.
The school management received the bomb threat at 7 am on Friday morning. The school organized the evacuation of students and teachers together with the municipality’s services. “Those who could not return home, such as the students at boarding school, were taken to the local sports hall,” said Reuter.
A bomb threat was also received at the Lycée Emile Jacqmain in the Brussels district of Etterbeek around 7:30 am. The school was evacuated and sniffer dogs searched the building, our editors confirmed. A perimeter was also set up, but has since been lifted. “The school will reopen,” said a police spokesperson. “The students were brought together at the Etterbeeksesteenweg for the duration of the intervention. In the meantime, they are back in the school building.”
There was also a bomb threat at the Collège des Etoiles in Haren, reports the Brussels public prosecutor’s office, which has opened an investigation into the reports. “After a negative sweep and search, the security perimeter could be lifted everywhere and students could re-enter the schools. The investigation is in full swing to find out who the perpetrator(s) of these facts is/are.”
Heavy punishments
The Brussels public prosecutor’s office takes these incidents very seriously and points out that false bomb threats carry severe penalties, ranging from three months to two years in prison, and a fine of 400 to 2,400 euros.
Last Monday, the Collège du Sacré-Cœur in Charleroi, Hainaut, was also shocked by a bomb threat, as was the Notre Dame de Bellevue college in Dinant, in the province of Namur.
