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Amsterdam airport bomb threat

February 13, 2012

Amsterdam's Schiphol airport has been partially evacuated after a bomb threat. Police confirmed that the two main, international terminals had been emptied so that officers could investigate the report.

https://p.dw.com/p/142R9
Themenbild Breaking News DW-Grafik Peter Steinmetz Datum: 2.2.2012

Authorities in the Netherlands announced on Monday that much of Amsterdam's Schiphol airport had been evacuated following a bomb threat. Security officials said they had cleared Terminals 1 and 2 - the main two terminals that deal with international flights - to permit officers to conduct a thorough search.

"We have evacuated the terminals and are investigating the report of a bomb. The area has been sealed," said Robert van Kapel from the Dutch military police unit at the airport. "Security has been increased at the airport."

Another spokesman said that Schiphol received a call at around 11 a.m. local time threatening a bomb attack.

Military police were patrolling the area, a bomb squad had arrived on scene, ambulances and fire trucks were on hand and hundreds of people were waiting outside the airport.

A spokesman at the state-owned Schiphol Group said they were studying whether the bomb threat would lead to cancellations. Schiphol's Internet homepage did not mention the event, but some early afternoon departures and arrivals were marked as delayed on the website.

A spokesman for operator ProRail said the train traffic to the airport was unaffected. Trains into Schiphol run through a tunnel underneath the building.

Dutch broadcaster RTL reported that police had "negotiated the arrest" of a man, but that it was "unclear if he really had a bomb."

Schiphol, the Netherlands' largest airport, is Europe's fifth airport in terms of passenger numbers, dealing with between 120,000 and 140,000 people per day.

msh/mz (AP, dapd, Reuters)