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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
Caroline Mortimer

Plane flying from Warsaw to Egypt makes emergency landing in Bulgaria after bomb threat

A plane flying from Warsaw to the Egyptian resort of Hurghada has made an emergency landing in Bulgaria after a bomb threat, according to officials.

The plane was forced to land at the Burgas airport in the Black Sea after a passenger on board claimed a bomb had been planted on the aircraft. 

A police spokeswoman said the passenger admitted drinking alcohol before making the claim when questioned.

The plane has been evacuated and is currently being searched. 

A press officer for the airport said:  "The plane landed in Burgas at 5.48 am (0348 GMT) after a request for flight number LLP8015 travelling from Warsaw to Hurghada to make an emergency landing, due to a report of the presence of explosives on board."

A spokesman for the Polish airline responsible for the flight, LOT, said the aircraft was a charter flight. 

A Polish diplomat in Bulgaria, Jakub Flasinski, told Polish news channel TVN24 that the situation was "under full control". 

It comes days after Russian officials confirmed a homemade bomb was found on board the Metrojet flight 9268 which crashed in the Sinai desert in Egypt on 31 October, killing all 224 people on board.

Burgas airport was the scene of a terroist attack in 2012, when a suicide bomber killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian driver on an airport bus. 

Additional reporting by Reuters

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