On Tuesday, January 20, 2026, Lycée Notre-Dame de Bon Secours in Perpignan was urgently evacuated following a bomb threat. According to information obtained, students received a message from an anonymous individual claiming to act on behalf of Islamic State, alleging that explosives had been placed inside classrooms.
“I will blow up the entire school”
After the discovery of the message, which was circulated via the hacked account of a student, the school ordered an immediate evacuation. “Today, I will blow up the entire school around 10–11 a.m.,” the message read.
In its alarming wording, the anonymous author threatened to “behead” infidels and claimed to have placed C4-type explosives “throughout the establishment and in the classrooms.”
Students evacuated and secured
Municipal and national police were deployed to secure the area and inspect the buildings. The section of Avenue Panchot near the school was cordoned off by law enforcement.
Parents were informed by the school and asked, where possible, to come and collect their children. Other students were taken to safety inside the E.Leclerc shopping gallery opposite the school.
In the message, the author claimed to be located in Clermont-Ferrand. On Monday, January 19, another high school in Occitanie, in Revel (Haute-Garonne), had been targeted by a similar threat, which was later deemed unfounded.
In an email sent to parents, the head of the school, Jean-Pierre Mazeau, announced that classes were suspended for the day. “Students remain supervised by security services and have been gathered in the parking lot of the Leclerc supermarket located opposite Lycée Marillac,” he wrote.
He also sought to reassure families, noting that the school’s name was not explicitly mentioned in the threatening message. “It is very likely a hoax, but as a security precaution, the police asked us to evacuate all students and staff for the day.”
Shortly before noon, the Préfecture des Pyrénées-Orientales announced the end of the security sweep, stating that it “made it possible to rule out any threat to the safety of students.”
