Paris Gare du Nord train station reopens after evacuation

The Gare du Nord, one of Paris’ main transport hubs, has reopened after it was evacuated on Monday night due to a security operation.

Platforms were evacuated and the area cordoned off by heavily armed police late on Monday evening. Footage posted on social media showed a large police presence around the station and, while police gave no details about the operation, local media reported that officers were looking for three men who were thought to be dangerous.

According to the local newspaper, Le Parisien, passengers were held on trains as the operation was carried out.

The paper reported that the names of three men had been handed to French security services by a foreign country and that those men had been spotted in Bordeaux and Marseille, as well as in the French capital. Police launched operations in response to each sighting but had not managed to catch them.

French police tweeted on Monday night that they were carrying out checks.

At about 1:00am, police said the operation had finished and that things were gradually returning to normal in the area.

#GareduNord Fin des vérifications, retour progressif à la normale.

— Préfecture de police (@prefpolice) May 8, 2017

Security has been stepped up across France because of Sunday's presidential runoff, which Emmanuel Macron won.

Over the past two years, the country has been hit by a series of Islamist militant attacks in Paris and other cities in which more than 230 people have been killed.