KATHMANDU, MAY 4

The domestic terminal of Tribhuvan International Airport witnessed chaos and panic this morning after a hoax bomb threat triggered mass evacuation, flight disruptions, and the cordoning off of the airport for about an hour.

"All the passengers were immediately evacuated to the airport's parking area after an anonymous call at TIA between 9:40am and9:50am claimed that there were explosives at the domestic terminal," TIA Spokesperson Teknath Sitaula told The Himalayan Times.

The terminal duty office received two calls from an international number by the same man claiming that explosive devices were planted at up to seven areas of the domestic terminal set to explode within two hours, said Sitaula.

According to him, security personnel, including Nepali Army's bomb disposal squad and Nepal Police's sniffer dog squad, were deployed for search at 10:00am following the calls.

"The teams did not find any suspicious object during the thorough search of the terminal building, including the check-in and security check areas," said Sitaula, adding that flights began at 11:10am.

Sitaula said around 25 domestic flights were halted for an hour while the search for bomb was under way.

"The one-hour flight delay is unlikely to affect today's domestic flights schedule. And the domestic airlines should be able to complete all scheduled flights, as seven airports operate till midnight."

Meanwhile, international flight operations remained unaffected.

According to TIA-based Senior Superintendent of Police Bhim Prasad Dhakal, investigation is under way regarding unidentified calls. "We are looking into the matter, but have not found anything yet."

A version of this article appears in the print on May 05, 2022, of The Himalayan Times