Threat shuts Christmas markets in Germany's Duesseldorf -police

The Bild newspaper, which first reported the closures, said a caller had threatened to crash a truck into the market at the city hall.

  A file photo of "Nuernberger Christkindlesmarkt" (Christ Child Market), one of the world's oldest Christmas markets, opening in Nuremberg, Germany, November 25, 2022. The western German city of Duesseldorf closed Christmas markets in its historic city centre as a precaution on Dec 5, 2022, after p (photo credit: REUTERS/Heiko Becker/File Photo)
A file photo of "Nuernberger Christkindlesmarkt" (Christ Child Market), one of the world's oldest Christmas markets, opening in Nuremberg, Germany, November 25, 2022. The western German city of Duesseldorf closed Christmas markets in its historic city centre as a precaution on Dec 5, 2022, after p
(photo credit: REUTERS/Heiko Becker/File Photo)

The western German city of Duesseldorf closed Christmas markets in its historic city center as a precaution on Monday after police received a threat against one of them, according to police.

A city spokesperson said the old town, including the city hall, had been closed off but did not give a reason.

The Bild newspaper, which first reported the closures, said a caller had threatened to crash a truck into the market at the city hall.

Officers were on site but the situation was calm, police said.

Just over a week ago, police in Berlin closed roads and stepped up security around the Alexanderplatz Christmas market due to a phoned-in threat.

 A person with a shopping bag of the department store Kaufhaus des Westens ''KaDeWe'' walks along Kurfuerstendamm shopping street looking for bargains on the second weekend of advent, in Berlin, Germany, December 3, 2022 (credit: REUTERS/LISI NIESNER)
A person with a shopping bag of the department store Kaufhaus des Westens ''KaDeWe'' walks along Kurfuerstendamm shopping street looking for bargains on the second weekend of advent, in Berlin, Germany, December 3, 2022 (credit: REUTERS/LISI NIESNER)

What happened?

Berliner Zeitung reported at the time that an unidentified person had called the police saying he planned to plow his car into the crowds of revelers.

Police gave the all-clear after about three hours, saying it was investigating suspected abuse of the emergency hotline.

Twelve people were killed in 2016 when a man drove a stolen truck into a busy Christmas market in Berlin.