Bomb threat shuts down busy Dominican Republic airport

Santo Domingo.- The threat of a bomb on board an aircraft of the carrier Jetairfly shut down operations at Las Americas International Airport, prompting the military to implement an emergency lockdown.

Airport authorities two warning calls apparently made from the plane, and a second, reportedly received from the capital of Santo Domingo, which authorities were tracing to identify the caller.

All terminal activities were halted at 10:pm with flights rerouted to the airports at La Romana and Punta Cana. However, minutes before 12 o’clock midnight resumed the operations of the terminal, including flights.

A suspect of having made the call was detected as they were contacting the Las Americas control tower, warning of a bomb aboard the plane of Jetairfly flight 205.

More than 270 passengers including children a board the aircraft were evacuated at the south end of the runway, as firefighters, a military helicopter and police bomb unit arrived at the scene.

The first call was received at 3:29pm and forced the lockdown of the terminal, as flights from Miami, San Juan, Madrid and New York were turned away.

After a thorough search of the plane, airport authorities said no devices were found.

One arrest has been made in connection to the incident, local media report.