A fake bomb intended for a military drill sparked an evacuation at an airport in Norway's second-largest city - after it was mistakenly placed on a luggage belt.
The Flesland airport, in Bergen, was closed for almost three hours after security found what looked like an explosive device when they scanned the bag in the check-in area.
A bomb squad from Oslo was called in as the airport closed and all passengers were evacuated.
The policeman leading the response to the scare, Bjarne Flokenes, told Norwegian newspaper VG that the owner had contacted the police.
"He is employed by the armed forces and brought with him a practice bomb that was used in a military exercise," he said.
"Inexplicably, the case ended up in wrong hands and ended up on the baggage belt."
Police spokesman Terje Hilland said fears were allayed after the owner of the suspicious package was identified.
"He explained that the bag contained an object that looked like explosives and was for use in a training exercise for the military," he said.
"But they failed to inform airport staff about the contents."
Arild Tolleshaug is chairman of Selmatec Securities, which provides safety equipment to Norwegian airports.
He told VG newspaper that a package must contain certain compenents to trigger the X-ray machine's alarms.
"A bomb must include a timer, such as a clock or computer, a ballast and explosives," he said.
"If these three things pop up on the screen, it is up to the security personnel to analyse the image and assess risk.
"Then it might be a bomb, or there may be articles that are completely random in their luggage, which make it look like it."
SKYNEWS
0 Comments