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Terrorism

Eurowings plane lands in Kuwait over bomb scare

January 15, 2017

Almost 300 people have been evacuated from a Germany-bound flight after the aircraft made an emergency landing in Kuwait. The pilot reportedly requested the landing over a suspicion that there was a bomb aboard.

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Deutschland Airbus A 333 Eurowings
Image: Eurowings

Authorities searched the Eurowings plane on Sunday but found no trace of explosives, Kuwaiti officials said.

The pilot had requested an emergency landing at the Kuwait City airport after leaving the aiport at Salalah in Oman, according to the state-run KUNA news agency.  KUNA cited a bomb scare as the reason for the move. Eurowings, however, said only that the emergency landing was a preventive measure "for security reasons," without providing details.

All 286 passengers and ten crew members from the Cologne-bound plane were evacuated, according to a Eurowings spokesman. The passengers were placed in a hotel until Sunday night, when they are set to continue their journey to Germany.

Lufthansa confirms no bomb

The company will use the same Airbus A330-203 to transport them out of Kuwait on Sunday night, he said. The flight was pushed back to allow the crew to rest, as they exceeded their maximum number of working hours during the incident.

Eurowings, previously known as Germanwings is the budget subsidiary of the German flagship Lufthansa.

Lufthansa spokesman Tal Muscal confirmed the flight was diverted and that no explosives were found.

"I do know there is nothing on board," he said.

dj/rc (Reuters, AP)