This Article is From Apr 23, 2017

French Elections: Suspected Vehicle Found At Polling Booth, Evacuation Takes Place

French Elections: Suspected Vehicle Found At Polling Booth, Evacuation Takes Place

Under tight 50,000-plus police deployment, France is voting in the first round of elections.

Paris: A polling station in the town of Besancon in eastern France was evacuated on Sunday after a stolen vehicle was abandoned with the engine running while voting was taking place, French Interior Ministry said.

The suspicious car was flagged as stolen and had fake number plates, a ministry official told news agency Reuters, adding that a decision was made to evacuate the polling station, while bomb disposal experts were called to examine the vehicle.

France is voting in the first round of a presidential election on Sunday amid heightened security.

Security officials have said there is a risk during the elections of a terrorist attack like the ones that have killed more than 230 people in the past two years in France.

More than 50,000 police and elite security units have been mobilised for election duty across France.

(Reporting by Gerard Bon, Writing by Bate Felix and Editing by Jason Neely)
© Thomson Reuters 2017
.