Air passengers evacuated after bomb scare

Mikael Onny Setiawan and Abdul Khalik The Jakarta Post/Balikpapan/Jakarta

Security authorities had to search more than 150 passengers for explosives after a Lion Air officer at the Balikpapan airport in East Kalimantan received a bomb threat from a caller on Friday morning.

The caller told the officer, Hidayat, that there was a bomb planted on the Lion Air flight from Jakarta to Balikpapan, which could explode anytime.

The threat was relayed to security officials as the plane, carrying 151 passengers including four children, was about 15 minutes away from Sepinggan International Airport in Balikpapan, at around 10:15 a.m.

However, the passengers were calm on their arrival as airport security officers did not notify them about the bomb threat, while rapidly evacuating them from plane.

Bomb squad and rapid reaction force officers from the Balikpapan police, several ambulances, a fire brigade and a platoon of Air Force troops later surrounded the airport as a precautionary measure.

They combed the plane that was parked in an isolated area at the northern tip of the runway, but found nothing suspicious on board, while all the passengers were thoroughly checked in a special room within the airport.

The officers also examined all luggage. A few hours later the plane was declared safe.

Hidayat said he received the phone call at 9:58 a.m. and passed on the message to Adj. Comr. Siregar, a police officer with the airport security task force.

Siregar said the caller only identified himself by the name Syamsuddin and claimed to be a member of the Indonesian Terrorist Network. Based on a preliminary investigation, he made the phone call from the Karang Rejo area in Balikpapan, Siregar added.

I.B.G. Winaya, the head of airport management company PT Angkasa Pura's Balikpapan branch, announced to the public that the incident was handled according to security procedures.

"During the process, all the passengers were in good shape and looked calm. All of them are safe," said Winaya accompanied by Balikpapan military commander Lt. Col. Donald Sitorus.

Balikpapan Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Hadi Purnomo, who was also at the scene, said his office would continue investigating the case to find the caller.

"Even though the bomb threat was merely a hoax, we will take tighter measures for everybody's safety following the incident," he said.

In Jakarta, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said that his personnel were now trying to determine whether the group called the Indonesian Terrorist Network really existed in the country.

"We have never heard of such a group. In fact, the bomb threat (in Balikpapan) turned out to be a hoax. However, we are now investigating the group and whether it is linked with other terrorist groups in the country," he said on Friday.

Da'i said that it was not unusual for some people to use the relatively peaceful conditions to their own advantages, especially ahead of an election.

The country has been hit by a series of bomb blasts over the last four years with officials blaming most of the attack on members of the Jamaah Islamiyah terror group.

The United States and Australia issued new warnings on Friday, urging their citizens and officials to stay away from certain hotels in Jakarta following fresh concerns they could be targeted by terrorists.

The U.S. mission in Jakarta issued a notice saying potential attackers may be seeking "softer" targets frequented by Westerners, including hotels, clubs restaurants and shops.

Australia followed suit, releasing its own alert reiterating its advice that Australians defer all "non-essential" travel to Indonesia, AFP reported.

However, the police here said they were unaware of any new threats of an attack in the country.