Passenger suspected of plane sabotage after emergency landing in Sweden

Swedish police evacuated a Pakistan International Airlines jet diverted to Stockholm due to a bomb alert today and detained a passenger on suspicion of preparing aircraft sabotage, officials said.

The Boeing 777 was bound from Toronto to Karachi when the pilot asked to land at Stockholm’s Arlanda airport after Canadian authorities received a tip that a passenger was carrying explosives.

Arlanda spokesman Anders Bredfell said there were 273 people on board.

Police detained the suspect as he was evacuated from the aircraft along with other passengers. Police described him as a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, aged about 30.

Police operation leader Stephan Radman said no explosives were found on the man, who was being questioned by investigators. He said a bomb squad was searching the aircraft, which was parked on a ramp at the end of a runway.

Police officials said the man was not on any international no-fly lists and had cleared a security check in Canada.

In Pakistan, a spokesman for state-run Pakistan International Airlines confirmed the incident involved flight PK782 to Karachi.

“The plane has landed at the Stockholm airport due to security reasons,” airline spokesman Sultan Hassan said.