Bomb scare closes tunnel in central Rome

Rome: A tunnel connecting two major thoroughfares in central Rome was closed to traffic on Monday and bomb disposal experts were called to examine a suspect package which turned out to be a false alarm.

Via del Tritone, close to the Italian parliament, and the adjacent tunnel were closed for almost an hour after a passer-by spotted a box with wires protruding from it in a pedestrian underpass and alerted police.

The bomb disposal squad found the package to be a switchbox belonging to electricity company Acea.

The incident was the latest in a series of recent bomb scares in Rome and other cities since the terror attacks in Paris on November 13 that killed 130 people.

The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State militant group.