The agency said an anonymous caller telephoned Moscow police at 12:20 p.m. to say there was a bomb in the shopping arcade, which fronts on Red Square. Staff and shoppers were evacuated and police searched for the device. Inspectors failed to turn up anything, and GUM was reopened at 4 p.m.
Last Wednesday, in a similar incident, the Moscow University journalism department was also evacuated because of a bomb scare.
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