Isn't it puzzling that, just one week before the Madrid bombings, French authorities ordered a nationwide checkup of SNCF railways?? As if French intelligence had been tipped off about something?
Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, March 05, 2004
French company ends rail inspection after bomb threat
The inspection on the French railways ended Thursday within 24 hours after the blackmail by a terrorist group called AZF was reported and no bomb has been found, announced the French rail company SNCF.
The inspection on the French railways ended Thursday within 24 hours after the blackmail by a terrorist group called AZF was reported and no bomb has been found, announced the French rail company SNCF.
A total of 10,000 rail workers of the state-owned rail company had inspected on foot by Thursday 1300 local time (1200 GMT) all the 32,500 km of the French railway network, said the SNCF in a statement.
The SNCF gave priority to the rails reserved for passenger and dangerous goods traffic, said SNCF President Louis Gallois, earlier on Wednesday.
Although there is no irregularity, "all the railways remained under reinforced supervision. The SNCF continue to take precautions steps equivalent to the alarm at orange level," he said.
A general supervising group will be mobilized to check the crucial points like tunnels and industrial complexes, according to the statement.
Some 2.5 million passengers did not cancel or postpone their trips on Thursday, nor did they show even any particular anxiety, said the railway company.
The SNCF began the inspections soon after regional daily La Dépeche du Midi unveiled a blackmail by the AZF, which threatened the government with setting off 10 bombs planted on the railways unless a ransom of more than 5 million dollars is paid. One bomb was found on Feb. 21 on the railway line linking Paris to Toulouse, the French Interior Ministry announced Wednesday, adding that tests conducted later showed it was powerful enough to have smashed the track.
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