On Thursday 6 July, the Grand Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps received a call from the secondary school in Luxembourg City to advise of the discovery of an envelope containing a suspicious substance in a bathroom on the premises.
Rumours later surfaced among the student population that the incident had been caused by selected pupils hiding chalk in the envelope as a prank.
When questioned, the public prosecutor’s office confirmed an investigation had taken place, and the incident had not posed a risk to anyone involved. They declined to confirm exactly what substance had been discovered. However, police had filed two “youth protection reports”, following the usual procedure when minors are involved in an incident.
The emergency services spent almost two hours at the school during the operation. A spokesperson said the CGDIS always has to act according to procedure in such situations, and every assignment is taken seriously.
It is not known how much such an operation costs; however, the CGDIS warned that triggering such an intervention for a prank leaves the emergency services unable to attend to other emergencies as a knock-on effect, which could pose a risk.
