Munich stations closed as terror threats cast a shadow over new year celebrations

Two train stations in Munich were evacuated over fears of a planned suicide bomb attack as Europe ushered in the new year amid heightened security. Munich’s central station and Pasing station, some 8 km (5 miles) away, were cleared after police received a tip from France that Islamic State was planning an attack with seven bombers. They were reopened several hours later after the danger passed. It followed an earlier alert in Brussels, where police arrested six people after reports of another planned attack.

I believe this decision was right because I think we cannot take unnecessary risks when we are dealing with such concrete threats, concrete locations, and a concrete time

Bavaria’s interior minister Joachim Herrmann

Security forces in many capitals were on raised alert for the celebrations. Soldiers were on the streets of Paris, while police in London, Madrid, Berlin and Istanbul increased their presence as Europeans turned out to celebrate the arrival of 2016. In New York, police tightened security for the traditional New Year’s Eve dropping of the crystal ball in Times Square, where more than 1 million people hailed the arrival of 2016. In Belgium, police continued to question three people over an alleged terror plot. They called off the usual New Year’s Eve fireworks display in the capital, Brussels, but released three of the six people they arrested.

The threat is still there. It remains in fact at its highest level, and we are regularly disrupting planned attacks.

French president Francois Hollande

World munich threat