What to do if armed forces are in your town

Official updatesLU-Alert · RTL, 100.7 · 112

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Stay calm and keep your distance. Do not walk up to soldiers, armed people or military vehicles, and bring the children inside.
Keep your hands visible and empty and make no sudden moves. If someone armed speaks to you, answer calmly, do what you are told and do not argue.
Do not film or photograph soldiers, vehicles or positions, and do not post where they are online. It can put you and other people in danger.
Stay at home unless you really need to go out. If you must move, walk rather than drive, and follow every road closure and detour.
Keep your ID, your medicines and your phone on you, and the grab bag by the door.
If armed people try to move into your home, do not try to stop them. Leave with your household and your grab bag, and go to family, friends or a place the authorities name.
Follow official channels only: LU-Alert, the radio on Status: Verified and infocrise. Call Status: Verified if someone is hurt, and check on neighbours who live alone.

Luxembourg is a transit country for allied forces. Military convoys on the motorways, at the railway, the airport or the river port are part of normal defence planning, and their presence alone does not mean there is an emergency.
Luxembourg's official guide has no chapter on war. If armed forces in your town ever mean danger, the authorities will say what applies and tell you through LU-Alert, the radio and infocrise. See Alerts and sirens.
Believe official messages, not rumours. See False information for ways to check a message before acting on it or sharing it.

Pack a grab bag for each person, with water and food for Status: Verified hours, your medicines for at least Status: Verified, and copies of your ID and key papers in a waterproof pouch. See the grab bag checklist.
Write the important phone numbers and addresses on paper. Phones and the internet may stop working.
Agree Status: Verified meeting points and Status: Verified contact outside the area in your household plan, and agree who collects the children.
Keep a battery or wind-up radio and spare batteries at home.
Get to know your neighbours: who could help, and who might need help.

Stay away from anything left behind: vehicles, boxes, weapons or ammunition. Never touch it. Report it to the police on Status: Verified, as explained in Unexploded ordnance.
Go back to normal routines only when official channels say the situation is safe.
Check on neighbours, especially those who are older, ill or alone, and tell your contact outside the area that you are all right.
Restock the grab bag and the home kit.
Fear, anger and poor sleep are common after a frightening time. Talk with people you trust, keep a daily routine, and take breaks from the news. If it does not ease after Status: Verified, see a doctor or a psychologist. See Coping with a crisis.

Keep them indoors and away from the windows while armed people are in the street.
Teach them now what police, fire and rescue and army uniforms look like, and to ask the police or the emergency services for help.
Say what is happening in plain words. Keep them away from frightening pictures on screens.

If you cannot move quickly or hear well, stay inside and ask a neighbour to pass on any instructions.
Keep your medicines, aids and their chargers within reach, so you can leave at once if you must.

Bring them inside and keep them close. If you must go out with a dog, keep it on a short lead.

If you are stopped by soldiers or the police, stay calm, keep your hands where they can be seen, make no sudden moves and follow their instructions. See Living in a conflict zone for more on checkpoints.