Bomb Scare: Passengers Jump Off Plane in Australia

Terrified passengers jumped from a Virgin Airline plane at an Australian airport after a threatening note was found on board. The reported bomb threat, which turned out to be a hoax, was found in the bathroom just a day after a deadly terrorist siege in Melbourne.

“Nothing was found, there was no actual threat to anybody, just a note, so there was nothing in it,” a police spokeswoman told Reuters.

Police said the 68-passenger turboprop plane with 42 passengers on board on a domestic flight was evacuated at the airport in Albury, in southern New South Wales.

A man was arrested.

A passenger told the Australian Associated Press he heard someone shout: “Leave your luggage. Get out and run, run, run.”

“Police and emergency services attended Albury airport after receiving information a note was located in the toilet area,” New South Wales state police spokeswoman Emily Waters said.

“All passengers disembarked and a man was arrested within five minutes,” Waters said, declining to provide further details.

She did not say what was written on the note although News Corp Australia reports it suggested there was a bomb on board.

Virgin Australia said police met the plane on its arrival “due to a security incident on board”. It could not immediately confirm how many passengers were on board.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said police were treating a deadly siege on Monday in the southern city of Melbourne as an “act of terrorism” after a claim by the Islamic State group that one of its fighters was the gunman responsible.

-NAN