Medan airport bomb hoax causes panic

MEDAN (JP): A bomb hoax caused panic at Polonia airport yesterday, forcing authorities to delay several flights.

Airport chief Colonel Benyamin S. Dandel said activities at the international airport were not seriously affected but admitted that several flights were delayed "for a little while".

A local military spokesman Lt. Col. Agus Ramadhan said last night that an object thought to be a bomb turned out to be only a "toy" containing no explosives.

No one claimed responsibility for the bomb scare.

Until yesterday evening, the authorities had issued statements which suggested the bomb was real.

They said a suspicious object found inside a Bank Danamon automatic teller machine booth next to the airport information desk had been diffused.

It was first noticed by the airport's chief of navigation, Aswin, at 12:30 p.m. when he entered the booth to withdraw some money.

There was tension at the airport when a group of about 20 bomb sweepers conspicuously arrived at the scene and ordered airport employees, scalpers, food vendors and bystanders to stay away.

Dozens of police and troops blocked the entrance to the airport and after two hours the "bomb" was taken away in a special container. Two fire trucks were standing-by in case of emergency.

Senior police and military officers witnessed the tense operation.

As the "bomb" was carried out to a special vehicle and the authorities announced that everything was OK, the crowd, watching from a distance of about 100 meters, congratulated the officers.

Benyamin, quoting the bomb squad, had told The Jakarta Post the bomb was "live" and controlled by a remote control device.

Another military spokesman Brig. Gen. Djibut Hindartono had said he believed there was a political motive behind the bomb plot.

He said the authorities would carefully examine the lists of passengers traveling to and from the airport yesterday. (21/pan)