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Bomb threat on X forces Indian plane to land in Frankfurt

October 19, 2024

A plane with 147 people on board made an emergency landing in Germany over a bomb threat sent via X, police have said. The Indian carrier Vistara was already targeted in September by a bomb threat in a plane toilet.

https://p.dw.com/p/4lyv1
A Vistara Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in Frankfurt
Vistara and other Indian carriers have faced a slew of false bomb threats in recent days (file photo)Image: Markus Mainka/picture alliance

A flight from New Delhi to London was diverted to Frankfurt and evacuated after a report of a bomb on board, German police said on Friday evening.

The flight was operated by Indian carrier Vistara and had 147 people on board.

Police said the bomb threat had been communicated in an online post on X, formerly Twitter.

The authorities deployed police teams, complete with explosive detection dogs, to search of the plane after it was evacuated. No explosive device was found on board.

It was not clear when the plane would continue its London trip.

Minor arrested in Mumbai over false threats

The news of the Vistara plane makes emergency landing comes a day after Indian police arrested a minor in Mumbai on suspicion of him making bomb threats online.

Several Indian airliners have recently received multiple threats via social media. All of them turned out to be false alarms.

On Friday, India's Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said "hoax bomb threats have been traced to minors and pranksters."

"Civil Aviation Ministry is taking strict action and working closely to ensure passenger safety and prevent any such incidents,"  he added.

It was not immediately clear if the arrest in Mumbai was connected to the emergency landing in Frankfurt. However, local media reported bomb threats were also made via X.

Om early September, another Vistara flight, heading to Frankfurt, was diverted to Turkey after a piece of paper with the words "bomb on board" was found in the lavatory of the plane. The threat also turned out to be false.

dj/jcg (dpa, AFP)