One of Paris' biggest hospitals shut due to bomb scare

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

The authority for the capitals public hospitals said in a statement Friday that 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, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing operation, says the call prompted a bomb scare and that a bomb squad has been dispatched on the scene.

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