Sofia, Nov 19 A passenger plane flying from Poland to Egypt made an emergency landing in Bulgaria on Thursday after it was reported that a bomb was placed in the aircraft — but no explosives were found on board after a thorough search of the aircraft, an official said.
The plane, with 161 people onboard, took off from Warsaw, heading to the Egyptian coastal city of Hurghada, but it landed in the Belgian city of Burgas after a passenger alerted the crew to the possible existence of a bomb on board.
Bulgarian police evacuated the passengers and searched the plane without finding anything suspicious, a spokesperson for the Bulgarian interior ministry told EFE news.
The spokesperson explained that the 67-year-old Polish citizen, who gave the warning about the possible bomb, had been drinking alcohol.
He was now in custody and will be questioned.
The passengers, now at the airport terminal, will continue their journey to Hurghada after completing the relevant safety procedures as soon as possible, according to the ministry.
Dimitar Nikolov, mayor of Burgas, meanwhile, said the situation at the airport was normal.
The incident came a day after two Paris-bound Air France passenger jets, flying over the US and Canada, were diverted because of threats.
On October 31, a Russian plane flying from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm al-Sheikh to Russia's St. Petersburg blew up in mid-air killing all 224 people onboard. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the incident.
