Bomb hoax: Security stepped up in Kerala airports

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Security was tightened in three international airports in Kerala on Tuesday following a scare triggered by a message claiming that a bomb had been placed in one of the incoming flights from Gulf.

Security personnel at the airports here, Nedumbassery (Kochi) and Karippur (Kozhikode) thoroughly searched some of the flights that came from the Gulf sector and found they were safe, airport sources said.

The anonymous message was received in a police station in Mangalore in Karnataka, which was passed on to the airport here immediately.

The bomb squad and dog squad of state police were called in for the search. The aircraft and baggages of passengers were also checked before the flights were allowed to proceed.

The two flights searched here were Doha-Thiruvananthapuram-Calicut service of Air India Express and Qatar Airways' Doha-Thiruvananthapuram-Doha flights, airport sources said.

The checks, however, did not cause any inordinate delay in the departure of the flights, they added.