Bomb threat diverts plane of haj pilgrims in Indonesia, second in days

JAKARTA - A plane carrying hundreds of haj pilgrims back to Indonesia from the Middle East was diverted on June 21 after a bomb threat, the transport ministry and police said, the second such incident in a week.

Saudia Airlines flight SV5688 had flown from the Saudi city of Jeddah to the Omani capital Muscat before travelling on to Indonesia where it was due to land in Surabaya, a city on the main island Java.

But air traffic control officers in the Indonesian capital Jakarta received a call about a bomb threat for the flight, prompting its diversion to Kualanamu International Airport in Medan city on the morning of June 21, the directorate-general of Civil Aviation said.

Regional airport authority head Asri Santosa said in a statement officers were checking the plane after its arrival but the airport on Sumatra island remained operational.

All 376 passengers,

haj pilgrims

from Java, and 13 crew members were safe at the airport, North Sumatra police spokesman Ferry Walintukan told AFP.

He said a bomb squad was deployed to sweep the aircraft.

The passengers are due to resume their journey on June 22, said Asri.

On June 17, a plane carrying 442 haj pilgrims back from Saudi Arabia to Jakarta

was also diverted to Medan

after an e-mail bomb threat was sent to the authorities. AFP