Related News
Amsterdam airport reopens after failed bomb threat
Source: Agencies |
February 14, 2012, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
DOZENS of flights were delayed yesterday at Amsterdam's busy Schiphol Airport after a man claiming to have a bomb locked himself in a toilet, sparking the evacuation of two terminals, officials said.
The man was taken into custody after speaking with police negotiators and he turned out not to have any explosives. But operations at the airport - one of Europe's busiest aviation hubs - were seriously disrupted as two terminals were quickly evacuated but only slowly reopened.
Rob van Kapel, a spokesman for the Netherlands military police, said the suspect does not present any further danger. However, bomb squads searched the building as part of the airport's security protocols.
Van Kapel said the man had hidden in a restroom on the upper floors of the airport, a panorama area for people to watch planes taking off or landing. He said prosecutors have begun a criminal probe but it was too early to say what charges the man might face or what his mental condition is.
State broadcaster NOS quoted police as saying the suspect was not carrying any identity papers. NOS cited witnesses as saying the man had eaten at an airport restaurant and then refused to pay before blurting out his threat and fleeing to the bathroom.
Schiphol has beefed up security in recent years after Nigerian student Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab managed to smuggle explosives in 2009 onto a flight from Schiphol to Detroit, United States, after flying into Amsterdam from Lagos. He has pleaded guilty to trying to blow up the Northwest Airlines plane by injecting chemicals into an explosive concealed in his underwear and is due to be sentenced on Thursday.
The man was taken into custody after speaking with police negotiators and he turned out not to have any explosives. But operations at the airport - one of Europe's busiest aviation hubs - were seriously disrupted as two terminals were quickly evacuated but only slowly reopened.
Rob van Kapel, a spokesman for the Netherlands military police, said the suspect does not present any further danger. However, bomb squads searched the building as part of the airport's security protocols.
Van Kapel said the man had hidden in a restroom on the upper floors of the airport, a panorama area for people to watch planes taking off or landing. He said prosecutors have begun a criminal probe but it was too early to say what charges the man might face or what his mental condition is.
State broadcaster NOS quoted police as saying the suspect was not carrying any identity papers. NOS cited witnesses as saying the man had eaten at an airport restaurant and then refused to pay before blurting out his threat and fleeing to the bathroom.
Schiphol has beefed up security in recent years after Nigerian student Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab managed to smuggle explosives in 2009 onto a flight from Schiphol to Detroit, United States, after flying into Amsterdam from Lagos. He has pleaded guilty to trying to blow up the Northwest Airlines plane by injecting chemicals into an explosive concealed in his underwear and is due to be sentenced on Thursday.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
