Paris' busy Gare du Nord train station evacuated following terror threat

Parisian police gradually began reopening Paris' Gare du Nord train station early on Tuesday morning, after earlier evacuating the platforms and cordoning off the area because of a security alert, local police authorities said.[caption id="attachment_3432388" align="alignleft" width="380"] Police outside Paris' Gare du Nord station. AP[/caption]A Reuters witness at the scene said there were between 20 to 30 police vans outside the station in central Paris with security forces wearing balaclavas and carrying assault weapons."End of security checks. Gradual return to normal," Paris police said in a tweet.Authorities gave no other details about the nature of the operation.The station was evacuated for more than two hours overnight Monday, while police launched a major search operation on a train for three wanted people.The international transport hub was evacuated shortly before midnight Monday to allow members of the Research and Intervention Brigade (BRI) police unit to search the train which had come from the northern city of Valenciennes, according to a source close to the enquiry.Security has been stepped up across France because of Sunday's presidential runoff, which Emmanuel Macron won.Over the past two years, the country has been hit by a series of Islamist militant attacks in Paris and other cities in which more than 230 people have been killed.The operation comes two weeks after armed police arrested a man carrying a knife at the station, sparking panic.