UPDATED: The Quality Hotel and several surrounding buildings in central Fredrikstad were evacuated Wednesday afternoon after someone phoned in a threat that a bomb had been placed at the hotel. The area was still cordoned off by early evening but the police could cancel the alarm around 7pm.
State broadcaster NRK reported that the threat was called in over the emergency phone line to police in Fredrikstad, southeastern Norway. Police traced the call, made by a man, to a public telephone booth on Løkkegata near the Fredrikstad bus station. They were asking for help from anyone who might have seen people calling from the phone booth at around 2:30pm.
A bomb group sent from Oslo arrived at the scene to search the hotel. Armed police were placed outside the hotel and all roads leading into downtown Fredrikstad were blocked. Guests were transferred to the Hotel Scandic City, around 300 meters away.
No bomb was found and police removed all the roadblocks and reopened the downtown area just before 7pm.
newsinenglish.no staff