Bag containing security plans for Paris Olympics stolen
Devices containing sensitive security plans for the upcoming Paris Olympics were stolen from a train at the city's Gare du Nord station on Monday, police sources said. The items—a computer and two USB drives—were in a bag belonging to a Paris City Hall engineer, who had stored it in the luggage compartment above his seat. The theft was discovered after the engineer switched trains due to a delay. The devices hold crucial information about the municipal police's security strategies.
Why does this story matter?
The stolen data is of significant concern, as it contains detailed plans for securing the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris. The games—scheduled between July 26 and August 11—will see the deployment of approximately 2,000 municipal police officers, with a total of around 35,000 security personnel expected to be on duty each day. Monday's theft highlights the importance of safeguarding sensitive information that can jeopardize high-profile events.
35,000 personnel to be deployed at Olympic games
Authorities are working diligently to recover the stolen items and ensure the safety of all participants and attendees. Regional transport police are investigating the incident, while Paris City Hall has not yet commented on the matter. As the Games draw closer, security measures will likely be reviewed and updated to prevent any potential threats or breaches.
Paris has repeatedly witnessed large scale attacks
Paris has been the scene of large-scale attacks, including the November 2015 Bataclan terror attacks, when Islamist extremists invaded a music hall and shot at cafe terraces, killing 130 people. Earlier that year, 12 employees of the French magazine Charlie Hebdo were targeted in a shooting attack by two French-born Algerian Muslim brothers. In December 2023, a German man was killed while two others suffered serious wounds in a knife and hammer attack on a street in central Paris.
