Over 19,000 people evacuated following bomb threat calls in Russian cities

Moscow: Over 19,000 people across Russia were evacuated, following anonymous bomb threat calls that were made on Monday. “The blast threat calls were received at 80 public targets in 11 cities. In total, 19,000 people have been evacuated,” a source in the Russian emergency services told RIA news agency on Tuesday. The source said that in Moscow, a number of local council buildings, shopping malls, night clubs and restaurants were evacuated after the anonymous calls were received. More than 200,000 people were evacuated in various cities across Russia over the past week because of numerous anonymous phone calls claiming that explosive devices were planted in schools, universities, stations, shopping malls and administrative buildings, the source said. “The total number of those evacuated across Russia since the past Tuesday exceeded 200,000 people. According to preliminary data, bombs ‘were planted’ in almost 700 buildings,” it said. A series of anonymous calls claiming that bombs were allegedly planted in buildings have been made across Russia over the last week. On Thursday, a law enforcement source said k that the calls were made from abroad by persons associated with the ISIS. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that President Vladimir Putin has been informed of the situation, adding that all the necessary measures were being taken in order to find the perpetrators of the “telephone terrorism.”