Hoax bomb girl ‘alright’

AN Australian teenager who underwent a 10-hour ordeal with what she thought was a bomb strapped to her neck emerged yesterday to say she was “alright” as police stepped up their investigations.

Madeleine Pulver, 18, was in her wealthy parents’ Sydney mansion when a masked intruder broke in and chained a device around her neck in a drama that gripped Australia.

It led to a drawn-out operation involving the bomb squad, which eventually determined the device was a sophisticated fake. A note was left at the scene and police are treating it as an extortion attempt.

“I’m alright,” Pulver said yesterday as she emerged for the first time.