Police lose explosives

POLICE training sniffer dogs at Paris’ top airport lost track of a passenger’s bag in which plastic explosives were placed, a police official admitted yesterday.

The luggage could have made it on to a flight, but there was virtually no risk of detonation, he said.

Police at Charles de Gaulle airport deliberately placed the bag containing 100 to 150 grammes of plastic explosives into a passenger’s luggage early on Friday evening, police spokesman Pierre Bouquin said.

But a “momentary lack of surveillance” led to the bag being lost on an internal conveyor belt carrying luggage from check-in to planes, he said.

Authorities immediately alerted the relevant airlines that one of between 80 and 90 planes that left the French capital from 5.30pm to 7pm local time on Friday, could be carrying the explosives, Mr Bouquin said.

He said the plastic explosives were harmless because detonators would be required to set them off.

Four of the flights were en route to the US, while other destinations included Japan and Brazil.