Thousands of people were evacuated from the Hammersmith Apollo on Sunday night after police received a bomb threat during a concert by an Iranian singer.
The Met Police said it received an anonymous call “making a threat towards a music venue” at 8.06pm on Sunday, which officers established was the Eventim Apollo in Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith, where singer Dariush Eghbali was performing.
Although there was “nothing to indicate that the threat made was genuine”, police attended the venue to speak to security staff to find out if anything suspicious had been reported.
A Met spokesperson said: “Nothing of suspicion had been brought to the attention of staff but at around 20.40pm, the venue management took the decision to evacuate as a precaution.”
The venue - which has a capacity of up to 5,000 - was evacuated, and eyewitnesses reported a heavy police presence in the area.
Concert-goers remained outside the venue chanting slogans such as “one solution, revolution” and “woman, life, freedom” - which have been commonly used in recent widespread protests against the Iranian regime and its treatment of women.
The crowd is still here at 21:46, although Met Police told them that the event is cancelled. They are chanting “One solution, Revolution” https://t.co/TxjviH4neK pic.twitter.com/8MBhDgmKgx
— Ghoncheh (@GhonchehAzad) October 9, 2022
Many concert-goers stayed in the area outside the venue after it was evacuated, and chants of “shame on you” could be heard directed at the police, while phrases such as “woman, life, freedom” were also heard ringing out along with slogans opposing Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei.
10pm Hammersmith Broadway sealed off by police and Eventim Apollo evacuated due to bomb threat at An Evening with Dariush event at Apollo. Hundreds of people outside venue. All buses stopped. Mayhem@MayorofLondon @SophieKLinden @MOPACLdn @metpoliceuk @TfL @hammersmithandy pic.twitter.com/RhHX3wHhTs
— Change_Maker67 (@Change_Maker67) October 9, 2022
The incident comes amid widespread protests in Iran and overseas, including in London, following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being taken into custody by Iran’s morality police after being arrested for breaking the country’s hijab laws.
Her death has prompted huge protests in favour of women’s rights.
The Met confirmed there are no reports of any injuries and no suspicious items were found.
