Package found on Rome train

A SUSPICIOUS package full of wires and powder was found yesterday in a metro car in Rome, prompting a terror scare during the Christmas season.

But the city’s mayor said the device could not have exploded.

The device was found at around 10am inside a train at the Rebibbia station, on the outskirts of the Italian capital. The train was at the end of the line and empty when the package was found, said Atac, which runs the Rome underground.

Bomb-disposal experts checked the powder and concluded “the device could not have exploded,” mayor Gianni Alemanno was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.

It wasn’t clear what type of powder was involved. Bomb disposal experts were analysing it, Atac said.

Atac said in a statement the train was in an area beyond the platform that is used for manoeuvring when the device was found.

Spokeswoman Diana Formaggio said the station was never closed and the service was not interrupted.