Bomb threat at large Paris hospital

Update 7.15pm: One of the biggest public hospitals in Paris has reopened after a phoned-in bomb threat closed the facility for three hours, French officials said.

The Paris police department said a bomb squad found nothing suspicious on Friday while searching the premises of the Hopital Europeen Georges Pompidou.

Earlier: French authorities have shut one of the biggest public hospitals in Paris because of a bomb threat.

The authority for the capital's public hospitals said all access to the Hopital Europeen Georges Pompidou has been closed "with the agreement of the police authorities".

The action was taken after the hospital received an anonymous telephone call.

Existing patients are not being evacuated, but new emergencies are being referred to other hospitals.

A French police official said the call prompted a bomb scare and a bomb squad has been dispatched to the scene.

The Hopital Europeen, the newest hospital built in Paris, meets the health needs of nearly 600,000 people in the south-west Paris region.