Munich train stations have reopened, as Bavaria’s top security official said that the warning about Islamic State extremists intending to blow themselves up in the German city was no longer acute.

Munich newspaper TZ reported that police believed several groups of attackers could strike at different locations in the city.

But German investigators, acting on information from “friendly countries” including France, said they have so far failed to substantiate the threat.

Bavaria’s interior minister Joachim Herrmann said Friday that authorities had details of some of the possible attackers and were investigating and verifying the information. But “at this point we don’t know if these names are correct, if these people even exist, or where they might be”.

Herrmann continued to say that the closures had been “the right decision, because I think we can not run any risks when we have such specific threats”.

Munich’s main station and the surrounding area were evacuated just 90 minutes before the city was to ring in the New Year.

Almost 550 police officers have been deployed to hunt down the suspects, according to media reports.

Residents were told to avoid the Hauptbahnhof and Pasing train stations, which the authorities evacuated and closed indefinitely.

Police were tipped off about an imminent attack in Munich, shortly before midnight. “There is as before a high threat of terror”, a police spokesman said, saying the investigation was ongoing. “Federal and state security services are following up on these indications, including of possible planned attacks”.

In Brussels, authorities canceled the city’s New Year’s Eve fireworks display as a precaution amid fears of a militant attack.

As many as 3,000 officers are working across the centre of the capital, as cities across the world heighten security in the wake of the Paris terror attacks.

The jitters reflect a growing realisation in the aftermath of November’s attacks in Paris that the continent is facing a lasting and diffuse threat from jihadist militants that could disrupt the lives of millions of Europeans.

BRUSSELS Belgian police nabbed five people early on Friday over an alleged New Year plot in Brussels and also arrested a 10th suspect over last month’s attacks in Paris.

Meanwhile across Europe, public celebrations went ahead as planned but under the watchful eye of thousands of police and security forces.

In an apparent effort to allay those concerns, Germany said on Thursday it would start holding personal hearings for asylum seekers from Syria as of Friday, reversing a policy of granting nearly automatic refugee status for Syrians. No arrests were made.