French Interior Minister receives letter suspected of containing dangerous virus

French police are investigating a suspicious letter sent to the interior minister that has tested positive for the bubonic plague virus, The Telegraph reported on July 28.

The letter was discovered at a mail sorting centre near Dijon, addressed to Roubaix Town Hall, in northern France outside Lille, and addressed to French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.

Discovering suspicious details on the envelope, such as the letter being sent without a stamp and with characters written on the back, the post office called the police.

When authorities opened the letter, they found a black powder. The contents of the letter also reportedly contained numerous racist insults.

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. Photo: X/Twitter

After conducting preliminary tests on the letter, the test results showed that it tested positive for the bubonic plague – a notoriously dangerous disease that killed millions of people in Europe during the Middle Ages.

Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Today, it is most commonly transmitted to humans through the bite of fleas on rodents or through contact with infected animals.

Preliminary testing is carried out by the police unit that handles chemical, biological, nuclear, radiological and explosive matters.

A local prosecutor reportedly said there was still a possibility that the test result was a false positive, and that more tests would be carried out. Le Figaro reported that further analysis of the black powder was expected on July 29.

An investigation has been opened into "defamation and insult", but that could change depending on the final test results.

Minister Darmanin has yet to speak publicly about the letter, and police have yet to release any information about the sender or the motive for the action.

The letter containing black powder is the latest incident to raise security concerns in France ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, following the vandalism of high-speed rail lines just hours before the opening ceremony on July 26.

Fibre-optic cables were cut and burned along the TGV high-speed rail network in coordinated attacks that took place overnight on July 25 and into the early hours of July 26, affecting the travel plans of 800,000 people, including visitors to Paris for the Olympics.

SNCF, the state-owned rail company, said saboteurs destroyed signalling substations and cables along lines linking Paris with cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east. Another attack on the Paris-Marseille line south was thwarted.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks on the high-speed rail network.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote on the social networking platform X/Twitter that the country's intelligence agencies were mobilized to track down the perpetrators.

Minh Duc (According to The Telegraph, DW, TASS)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/bo-truong-noi-vu-phap-nhan-thu-nghi-chua-virus-nguy-hiem-lo-ngai-an-ninh-gia-tang-204240729103704086.htm