Germany flight delayed over suitcase device

An Air Berlin flight from Namibia to Germany was delayed after police found a suitcase with a fuse in the luggage hall of the airport in the capital Windhoek.

Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office said today that a scan showed batteries attached by wires to a fuse and a clock.

It said authorities in Windhoek were investigating whether the device found yesterday could have exploded.

But Air Berlin spokeswoman Sabine Teller said no explosives were found in the bag.

She said it was unclear what plane the suitcase was intended for, but all the Air Berlin luggage was rechecked and passengers identified their bags.

After a lengthy delay the plane was able to leave and arrived with all passengers in Munich today.

The incident came the day after Germany was put on increased security alert through fears of a heightened threat from international terrorism.

The move followed new intelligence, said Thomas de Maiziere, the country’s top security official.

The suitcase was found in the luggage hall area near where bags intended for the Air Berlin flight were, and the flight’s luggage was rechecked as a precaution.

All passengers on the flight had to identify their own bags, and none were found without an owner, said Teller.

She did not know whether Namibian police had determined whose bag contained the device, or what flight it was intended for.

Concern about the possibility of international flights being targeted by terrorists rose last month when two mail bombs were discovered while being sent on cargo planes from Yemen to the US.

One of them went through a German airport before being found in Britain.

De Maizier said German authorities had gathered concrete intelligence of their own, pointing to “sustained efforts” by Islamic extremist groups to plan attacks in Germany.