Thousands evacuated from BBVA's Mexico City offices after threats

Record ID: 1399764

  • Title: Thousands evacuated from BBVA's Mexico City offices after threats
  • Date: 13th March 2019
  • Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (MARCH 13, 2019) (REUTERS) BBVA OFFICE TOWER WITH CIVIL PROTECTION AUTHORITIES IN FOREGROUND PEOPLE WAITING OUTSIDE BUILDING ENTRANCE TO PARKING GARAGE VARIOUS, SECURITY OFFICIALS AT BANK ENTRANCE PAN FROM BANK TOWER TO AMBULANCE IN FRONT OF BUILDING VARIOUS, SECURITY OFFICIALS AND PEOPLE WAITING OUTSIDE BUILDING CIVIL PROTECTION AUTHORITIES (SOUNDBITE)
  • Embargoed: 27th March 2019 23:14
  • Keywords: BBVA threat skyscraper evacuation Mexico City offices Bancomer explosive device tower
  • Location: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
  • City: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Bombing (non-military),Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA001A5UWRBB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Nearly 11,000 people were evacuated on Wednesday (March 13) from the Mexico City offices of Spanish bank BBVA, including one of the capital's tallest skyscrapers, where police sent in a team of bomb experts following anonymous threats.
    BBVA said in a statement it did not believe the threats were real, but evacuated its headquarters in the 235-meter (771-foot) Torre Bancomer, as well its Parques Bancomer offices in the upscale Polanco neighborhood as a precaution.
    Myriam Urzua Venegas, the city's emergency services chief, told local television station TeleDiario both emails and phone calls warned of "a possible explosive device" in the Torre Bancomer. It could also be a false alarm, she added.
    A crowd of office workers from the towering office building, a landmark of the Mexico City skyline, milled around sidewalks just before 1 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) along a busy stretch of Paseo de la Reforma boulevard in the city's capital.
    Moises Gutierrez, a police officer at the scene, said a team of around half a dozen experts had not detected any explosive device inside the building almost two hours after entering.
    Workers outside the Torre Bancomer, which opened in 2016, said they were told to go home for the day after they received instructions on a loudspeaker to evacuate the building.
    The crowd of hundreds of workers outside the tower quickly dispersed leaving a few dozen police and an ambulance with flashing lights at the entrance to the 50-floor tower.
    BBVA said its local branches continued to operate normally.
    (Production: Josue Gonzalez)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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