Irishman may be fined for ‘bomb’ hoax at airport

A ‘FRUSTRATED and angry’ Irishman caused panic at one of Europe’s busiest airports yesterday after shouting that he had a bomb in his luggage because he was furious at not being helped by staff at the information desk.

The 23-year-old man, whose name was not released, created consternation and sent passengers running for their lives after hearing him shout ‘bomb’ in the arrivals area of Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.

A large section of the arrivals, as well as the departures hall, were sealed off as military police, backed up by anti-terrorist officers and sniffer dogs, charged the Irishman, who raced through the airport.

“He ran straight into the arms of police, who had the area cordoned off within minutes and he was quickly overpowered,” said Schiphol military police spokeswoman Frederique Hermie.

“Like other airports in Europe, Schiphol has tightened security measures considerably in recent times so airport police and explosives experts were on the scene pretty much instantaneously and they cornered him.” According to the authorities the Irishman had approached the information desk in the arrivals area around noon asking for information about another passenger he was expecting to meet.

“He became frustrated, irritated and angry because staff could not help him and he shouted that he had a bomb in his rucksack before taking to his heels,” the spokeswoman said.

According to radio reports military police used pepper gas spray to overpower him, but that could not be officially confirmed.

The man works in the Netherlands, according to police, who declined to name him or say where in Ireland he was from.

He was taken to the nearby airport prison often used to house drug smugglers.

He will be held in custody until Monday when he will appear before an examining magistrate. While he could face a prison sentence, it is more likely that he will receive a fine which could run into thousands of euro.

Ms Hermie added: “Since 9/11 and with so many bombings and terrorist activity, bomb scares are dealt with very severely in Holland; it is stupid but also highly dangerous to engage in such behaviour. In this case an example may be made.”