- The unstamped letter reportedly contained black powder and racist insults.
A letter destined for a senior French minister reportedly contained traces of the plague.
The suspicious letter was addressed to the town hall of Roubaix, in northern France, just outside Lille, to the attention of Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.
It had no seal and had undisclosed “inscriptions” on its back, raising suspicions among workers at a sorting centre in Longiv, in the Côte-d’Or region.
When they opened it they discovered that it was full of black powder and a letter with racist insults. French media reports.
Preliminary tests revealed that the powder contained a “slight positivity for plague,” the disease that killed millions of people in Europe during the Middle Ages.
The suspicious letter was addressed to Roubaix town hall and was addressed to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin (pictured last week).
The substance has been sent to the Pasteur Institute, which is carrying out further analyses to confirm the results.
The Côte-d’Or prefecture stressed that the result “could be a false positive.”
The Pasteur Institute is expected to report its findings later on Monday.
It remains unclear who is behind the offensive letter and prosecutors have launched an investigation.
The investigation has been opened for ‘defamation and libel’, but that could change depending on the results of the tests.
Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and is most commonly transmitted to humans through flea bites or by handling infected animals.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are between 1,000 and 3,000 cases per year worldwide, and the most endemic countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar and Peru.
Police have not yet named any suspects or a possible motive and Darmanin has not spoken publicly about the reports.
The Interior Minister spoke on France 2 this morning about the recent attacks on the railway infrastructure just hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on Friday.
French President Emmanuel Macron (center) delivers a speech alongside Darmanin (right) as they meet French police officers during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
Darmanin said he was “leaning toward the likelihood” that far-left extremists were behind the arson attacks.
“We have identified the profiles of several people,” Darmanin said, adding: “This is the traditional type of action of the far left.”
But when asked if the people identified were close to the far left, Darmanin said: “We must be cautious.”
He said that “the question is whether they were manipulated” or acted “for their own benefit.”
“These are people who may be close to this movement,” the Interior Minister added.