Bomb hoax hits Lourdes shrine

THOUSANDS of people, many disabled or ailing, were evacuated from the shrine at Lourdes in southern France after a bomb threat, which later turned out to be a hoax, on the Catholic holy day of The Assumption.

Around 30,000 pilgrims were at the site in the foothills of the Pyrenees when Lourdes police received a threat saying a bomb would hit the site, said shrine spokesman Pierre Adias.

Police ordered everyone to be evacuated, and explosives experts were sent to scour the area. The pilgrims were told to leave just as the midday Mass was to begin.