France vows crackdown after multiple fake bomb alerts

France's justice minister vowed to crack down on fake bomb alertsthat caused chaos at airports and tourist sites on Wednesday.

Emailed "threats of attack" combined with abandoned luggage scares to trigger evacuations at multiple airports including Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Nice, Toulouse and Beauvais near Paris, leading to hours of delays. The situation had returned to normal at all airports by early evening.

The Palace of Versailles, a major tourist attraction outside Paris, was evacuated for the third time since Saturday for bomb disposal teams to check the site. France is on high alert following Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel and recent fatal stabbing of a teacher at a school by a man claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group.