More fear than harm. On Friday, August 16, at the end of the day, the staff and patients of the Hôpital privé de la Loire (HPL) experienced two hours of turmoil. Around 6:30 p.m., a man aged at least fifty, according to our information, showed up at the reception of the hospital site.
There, he explained that he wanted to drop off a package for his sister. He was told by the receptionist that it was impossible to leave a package there. The man put the box on the counter and turned on his heel, announcing: “I’m leaving the package. It’s going to blow up at the hospital anyway.”
CCTV footage could help investigators
Immediately, the police were called in. On site, the HPL reception was evacuated and a security perimeter set up, while waiting for the arrival of the bomb disposal experts, from Lyon. At the same time, the Samu had to redirect its patients to other hospitals.
The bomb disposal experts were able to quickly remove the doubt. Inside the package was a bathroom scale. Nothing dangerous, then, but the man responsible for this deployment of law enforcement is being sought. The national police have opened an investigation, which should be facilitated by the use of the establishment’s video surveillance images.
