Bomb hoax wave forces school evacuations across Serbia

Schools across several Serbian towns were evacuated on Monday after bomb threats were emailed to multiple addresses, Serbian outlet Kurir reported, citing police. Belgrade police were alerted at around 9.30am to threats against a number of city schools, and bomb-disposal teams were sent to inspect the buildings while pupils were moved outside.

Threats also reached schools in Novi Sad and Bačka Palanka, Kurir said, as the wave of alerts spread beyond the capital. In Sremska Mitrovica, threatening emails named three primary schools, Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, Sveti Sava and Slobodan Bajić Paja, as well as a school in the nearby village of Laćarak, police told Kurir. Pupils attending morning classes were sent home while officers carried out checks.

Separately, threatening emails were sent to every primary school in the town of Loznica, including its music school, and to schools in the surrounding villages of Tekeriš, Draginac, Lešnica, Jadranska Lešnica, Banja Koviljača, Lipnica, Korenita and Brezjak, Kurir reported. Local police were informed and pupils were moved out of classrooms there too.

It was not immediately clear when security checks of the affected buildings would be completed, or whether afternoon classes would resume, Kurir said. No casualties or explosive devices had been reported by Monday afternoon.