About 45 children were evacuated to Natchez’s city council chambers building Thursday after a bomb threat was called in to First Presbyterian Church Playschool.

The Rev. Dave deVries, pastor of the church, said the school’s assistant director took the call at the South Pearl Street school around 9:30 a.m. The voice was low, and the assistant director could not tell if the caller was male or female, deVries said.

The children, who range from infant to preschool age, were evacuated from the school in less than one minute, said school director Linda Bates.

Children who were old enough to walk, were escorted in pairs the short distance from the playschool to the council chambers building on Pearl Street.

The older children are familiar with the buddy system used during field trips and excursions, so it was not &uot;unusual for the children … to have to find their buddy,&uot; and walk across the street, Bates said.

&uot;For (the children) I think it’s a bit of an adventure, but it’s rather disruptive,&uot;&160;deVries said.

No explosives were found at the school and the Natchez Police Department is working to locate the suspect.

&uot;We’re performing an investigation to see if we can determine who made the call,&uot;&160;said Natchez Police Chief Willie Huff. &uot;It’s a pretty serious deal.&uot;

The children waited at council chambers until they could be picked up by their parents. Most of them did not seem bothered by the event, including infant Caroline Kaiser, who drank from a bottle fed to her by deVries in the midst of the commotion. &uot;That’s OK with me,&uot; deVries said of feeding the baby. &uot;I’ve got two of my own.&uot;

DeVries said the church is grateful to the fire, police and ambulance officials who assisted in the incident, some of whom helped care for the children.

&uot;They’re not changing diapers, but they’re entertaining kids and being very helpful,&uot; deVries said with a laugh.

The playschool closed for the rest of the day Thursday but will reopen today.

This bomb threat is the fourth bomb threat local officials have had to deal with in recent weeks. Natchez High School, Natchez Middle and John Martin’s Restaurant have also received threats.

All of them turned out to be pranks.