Passenger jet makes emergency landing on Crete after bomb scare

Athens: A German passenger jet carrying 250 people was forced to make an emergency landing on the Greek island of Crete Thursday after a bomb scare, local police said.

“The pilot asked the control tower at Chania airport after receiving information that suggested there were explosives on board,” a police official in Crete told AFP.

“The plane was evacuated and the passengers are safe and sound.”

Initial reports suggested the Boeing 753 aircraft, owned by German carrier Condor, had taken off from Egypt and was en route to the German city of Duesseldorf.

In May 2016 an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cario crashed into the Mediterranean off the coast of Crete, killing all 66 people on board.

Investigators determined that a fire broke out in or near the cockpit of the Airbus A320 before it plunged into the sea, and Egyptian officials said traces of explosives had been found on bodies of the victims.

Agence France-Presse