Students sent home after bomb scare

PALU, Central Sulawesi: The SMKN II vocational school sent home on Friday its 700 students, as it had received a bomb threat at 10:30 a.m.

The students fled in a panic upon hearing the principal's announcement that an unidentified male caller said a bomb planted at the school was set to explode.

Palu Police sent its bomb squad and cordoned off the school while combing it for an explosive device. They concluded the threat was a hoax when the search turned up empty.

Earlier on Thursday, a similar bomb hoax was received by Central Sulawesi Police deputy chief Sr. Comr. Sukirno at his private residence on Jl. Setiabudi, East Palu.

Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Aryanto Sutadi said the office was cooperating with state telecommunications operator PT Telkom and private firm Telkomsel to trace callers who made frequent bomb threats in the province. -- JP