Seven flights across Europe targeted by suspected bomb threats

Seven passenger planes across Europe were inspected after suspected bomb threats; two had left the UK. Bulgaria's border police received an email at around 10:35 (08:35 GMT) claiming an explosive device on a flight from Bergamo, and Georgi Peev reported threats against Sofia-bound planes from Bergamo and Dublin. Two Ryanair flights from Dublin and Lisbon were searched in Rome, the Dublin one escorted by the Italian Air Force; planes were also searched in Poland, Spain and Bulgaria. In Murcia, a Ryanair flight from Manchester stopped suddenly on the runway; after about 30 minutes fire engines and a bomb squad arrived and passengers including Sarah evacuated without belongings—she said "We weren't told anything during the flight." A Heathrow flight to Warsaw diverted to Modlin, while a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen landed at Warsaw-Chopin as planned. Paul Mason said threats "don't happen that frequently" and sounded "made in a credible manner across a broad range of airlines," suggesting "a very deliberate act by a typical actor rather than a load of coincidental, malicious calls." The incidents were described as "malicious hoax threats." Separately, 1,537 passengers and crew were evacuated from the Crown Iris cruise ship near Syros, Greece.