'There's a bomb in my pants': Passenger held at Beijing airport over hoax
Passenger said he told officers he had placed a device in his body because he was angry over the slow pace of security checks
A man has been put in detention for five days after he told officers at a security checkpoint at Beijing’s international airport that he had hidden a bomb in his rectum.
The passenger was in a hurry to board his aircraft and made up the bomb threat because he was angry about the slow pace going through security, the Beijing city government’s news website reported.
The threat led to a security alert, with passengers moved to other areas of the airport for safety.
The man was arrested at Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International Airport on Monday.
He showed signs of anxiety and made constant complaints about the slow progress of security checks, the report said.
After he was asked to remove his shoes to go through security screening he said: “Do I need to drop my pants as well? I have a bomb in my a**.”
An airport security official asked him he repeat what he said, and he did, according to the report.
A security alert was activated and the checkpoint was shut down. Passengers were evacuated to other areas of the airport.
The man was searched and taken to the nearest police station.
No details were given about the man or where he was flying to.
The search found no security threat and the alert was called off a few hours later.
The man told officers he was angry because he thought the security checks were a waste of time and he never anticipated the consequences of his remarks, according to the report.
The shutdown of the security checkpoint had affected many travellers and severely disrupted the operation of the airport, according to the authorities.
The Supreme Court ruled last year after a series of bomb hoaxes at airports that offenders should be jailed for at least five years if any disruption had caused economic losses of over 500,000 yuan (HK$631,000).
A 25-year-old man was jailed for three years earlier this month after he said there was a bomb at Chongqing airport. He was angry that his girlfriend was flying to meet another man in Inner Mongolia, the news website Southcn.com reported.
A doctor in Beijing was jailed for six months in January after she rang a security hotline to say there was a bomb on an aircraft flying from the capital to Shanghai. She suspected her boyfriend was taking another woman on a foreign trip, according to the Legal Evening News.