Several buildings were evacuated in the German city of Mainz on Monday morning after authorities were alerted to a bomb threat made against the public-service broadcaster ZDF, which is located there.
Hundreds of staff and those occupying adjacent buildings to the ZDF offices were evacuated as a precautionary measure at around 8:20 a.m. local time, a spokesperson for the State Criminal Police Office confirmed.
Bomb squads and sniffer dogs were dispatched to the scene.
Authorities had received an anonymous threat by email and sought to investigate its credibility while also securing the area.
Around two hours later, the police determined there was no immediate danger and gave the all-clear, allowing workers to return to their desks.
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The seemingly erroneous threat is the latest in an increasingly used tactic to disrupt services across Western Europe, with both France and Belgium being hit by threats last week.
France suffered the most, with eight airports across the country being forced to evacuate last week after a string of anonymous threats.
The Palace of Versailles was also forced to evacuate visitors on Thursday for the fourth time in less than a week for security reasons, while a nuclear research facility also suffered disruption and had to close its doors.
In total, French schools have fallen victim to 299 bomb threats and forced evacuations so far this year, including a record 75 made last Thursday alone.
“We tell those listening: We will find everyone,” warned Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin as he vowed to increase police powers to provide a greater deterrent and revealed that authorities were using considerable resources to track down those responsible by tracing phone numbers and IP addresses.
