Police are searching for the sender of a bomb threat that put Ngurah Rai Airport on the highest level of alert.
The contact centre of the company that operates the airport received a WhatsApp message claiming that a woman with the initials LH was carrying a homemade bomb and planned to hijack a plane departing from Bali. The threat was not confirmed during security checks, and investigators believe the message was sent by a Canadian citizen.
The message was sent from a foreign number on Sunday evening, 2 August, at 21:58. After midnight, at 00:44, the airport's aviation security service and combined police units joined the operation. Two international flights, Emirates and Etihad, were subjected to enhanced security checks; by then, the passengers were already on board.
Officers first checked the passenger lists for anyone with the initials given in the message, but no departing passenger matched them. They then secured and searched the departure area, the aircraft and all baggage. Nothing resembling a homemade explosive device was found.
The airport declared the message a hoax. Flights and passenger services continued as normal throughout.
The airport district police's criminal investigation unit is handling the case. Investigators are tracing the source of the message and summoning those who received it. The airport is considered a site of national importance, and making a false security threat against it is a criminal offence. Passengers were asked not to joke about the subject or forward unverified messages.
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