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What to do if there is a bomb threat

Official updatesLU-Alert · RTL, 100.7 · 112

Do this now

  1. Stay calm if the threat comes by phone. Keep the caller talking for as long as you can and do not hang up first.
  2. Write down everything at once: the exact words, the time, the voice, any accent and any background noise. If the threat comes by email, message or letter, keep it and do not delete, forward or reply to it.
  3. Call the police on Status: Verified, or Status: Verified if there is immediate danger. Tell the security staff or the person in charge of the building.
  4. Leave when you are told to, calmly and by the route you are given. Take only what is already in your hands and go to the assembly point.
  5. Leave doors and windows open as you go, unless the staff or the police tell you otherwise. Do not stop to lock up.
  6. Never touch, move or open a bag or parcel that looks out of place. Keep away from it and tell the police exactly where it is.
  7. Follow every instruction from the police and the security staff, and go back inside only when they say it is safe.

Before

How warnings reach you

  • Vigilnat is the national vigilance plan against terrorism. It has four levels, decided by the government and announced on infocrise and through the media. It is a separate scale from the LU-Alert colours. See Alerts and sirens.
  • Report suspicious behaviour and objects left behind to the police on Status: Verified or to the security staff on site. Never call Status: Verified or Status: Verified just to test the line.

At work, at school, in your building

  • Find out where the assembly point is and who gives the order to leave. Walk the route beforehand so you know the way.
  • If you answer phones for an organisation, keep a short checklist by the phone of what to note during a threatening call.
  • Agree to send short texts instead of calling in an emergency, and note this in your household plan.

After

  • Stay at the assembly point until the police or the person in charge say you may leave or go back in.
  • Tell the police anything you remember, even if it seems small. Hand over any message, letter or notes you kept.
  • Do not post rumours, guesses or photos of the scene. Share only what official channels confirm.
  • If there was an explosion and you are still inside, get out by the nearest safe exit. If the way out is blocked, take cover under a sturdy table until help comes.
  • A threat can leave you shaken even when nothing happens. Talk about it with the people around you, and see Coping with a crisis if it does not ease.

If you are…

Looking after children

  • Do not rush to collect children from school or crèche during a threat. Schools have their own plans and will tell parents when and where to collect them.
  • Explain to children that adults are checking the building and that everyone needs to leave calmly.

Older, ill, or living with a disability

  • If you cannot use the stairs or move quickly, tell your colleagues or the building manager now, so someone knows to help you leave.
  • Keep your medicines and anything you need to move on you, not in a locker or another room.

Receiving a threat at home or online

  • Keep the message, the number or the account name. Do not reply. Call the police on Status: Verified and follow their advice.

Easy-read summary

  • If someone calls with a threat, listen and write everything down.
  • Call the police at once.
  • Do not touch any bag or parcel that looks strange.
  • Leave calmly when you are told to.
  • Follow what the police and the staff tell you.