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Chaos in Longford as two hoax bomb threats to gardaí sees major evacuations

Two phone calls were made to Longford Garda Station yesterday afternoon which resulted in the immediate evacuation of both the midlands town’s shopping centre and Dunnes Stores

Yesterday at 08:31

Detectives are this morning hunting for an individual behind two separate hoax bomb threats which resulted in the closure of two major shopping outlets in Longford town.

Two phone calls were made to Longford Garda Station yesterday afternoon which resulted in the immediate evacuation of both the midlands town’s shopping centre and Dunnes Stores premises located a short distance away.

Entrances leading into both precincts were also cordoned off and car parks sealed off as gardaí awaited the arrival of army bomb disposal experts.

Both scenes remained closed off last night, leading to lengthy tailbacks in and around the county town.

Specialist Defence Forces personnel, together with detectives and uniformed gardaí carried out a series of searches of both locations over the course of several hours.

Those searches, however, found no devices and both scenes were deemed safe and reopened at around midnight.

A garda spokesperson confirmed an investigation was now underway to try and determine the identity of the alleged hoax caller.

“Two calls were reported to Longford gardaí on the afternoon of Saturday, August 12, 2023 regarding suspicious devices, a number of retail premises were cleared and scenes preserved in Longford town.

“Gardaí liaised with specialist search resources and the Irish Defence Forces as well as management of these retail premises.

“A number of searches were conducted and no devices were located. The locations were deemed safe.

“As a result, gardaí are now treating the call received as a hoax and investigations into all the circumstances of this call are ongoing.

“Gardaí appeal to anyone with information in relation to these calls to contact Longford Garda Station on 043 335 0570 the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any garda station.”