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A LONDON-BOUND easyJet flight was diverted to Cologne last night due to a “suspicious conversation” heard on board, with passengers evacuated on emergency slides and three men arrested, German police said.
The pilot of the flight from the Slovenian capital Ljubljana decided to land after passengers told flight attendants “that several men were talking about terrorist activities,” a police spokesman told AFP, without elaborating on the content of their discussion.
After the plane landed in a secure area of Cologne-Bonn airport at about 6pm, federal police evacuated the 151 passengers down emergency slides.
They isolated a backpack belonging to the three suspects, which was blown up by bomb squad officers.
The three men were handed over to police in Cologne, but no details were provided on the contents of their baggage or the reality of the threat.
Air traffic at the airport was interrupted between 7pm and 10pm with 10 flights diverted and 20 departures delayed.
Cologne police searched the plane using sniffer dogs.
In a statement, the airline said the captain had diverted flight EZY3246 “as a precaution to enable the aircraft to go through additional security checks in Cologne”.
“In compliance with the local authorities’ guidance, passengers disembarked to allow additional security checks to be performed.”
Easyjet said the flight would take off Sunday after passengers had been provided with overnight hotel accommodation.
“The safety of easyJet’s passengers and crew is our highest priority,” it said.
Germany remains on high alert following several jihadist attacks there and in other European countries.
Authorities the previous weekend evacuated Germany’s biggest rock festival, the three-day “Rock am Ring,” over fears of a possible terrorist threat, which proved unfounded.
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The Orwellian society is now truly in full swing.
@domas1507: Apparently they were overheard talking about explosives and bombs . The police still have them in custody , so there might be something in it .
@domas1507: Needs must.
@Ken Hayden: or equally there could be absolutely nothing in it.
@brian magee: That’s also a possibility , it just seems odd that they still have the men in custody .
@Ken Hayden: Oh yes terrorists on a mission always discuss the nature of their intent. But this is the west living normally in defiance of terrorists – we are not afaria we are terrorfied
@domas1507: Give it a rest domass
@Austin Rock: Agreed , if their target was the plane . But there’s a possibility they were planning something in England when they landed .
And I’m not in the slightest bit ”terrorfied” , my gripe is when Idiots try and defend the ideology of islam without understanding it .
@Austin Rock: All clear given , best not take chances .
Again this story highlights the tension and stress factors for everyone going about their daily business. The one thing on everyone’s mind what if one person goes on the rampage?they will choose a weak spot of the Country I don’t think the Gardai are ready to take on these people and the Government knows it
@Alan Scott: why would they attack anywhere in Ireland. There is zero strategic value in a move like that. Ireland is a back door to the real target, why jeopardise it.
@EdmundOrlando: we are the first country to vote in same sex marriage. We are a majority Catholic country. There are reasons for them to try and attack us.
@EdmundOrlando: don’t attack us because we are incompetent?
@EdmundOrlando: Because we have lots of tourists from the U.S. UK, France and from nearly every other Western democracy. We are also non-believers and we are in The House of War (Dar al-Harb). So we are fair game and legit targets for these “losers”!
@Shannon Mcg: sorry Shannon, first country by popular vote… gay marriage exists nearly in all European countries…
And that’s only because Irish constitution is strangely specific on such things requiring referenda…
Funny, only a year ago would you calling this racist
@Alex: Now they just delete comments about which religion might be associated with it.
@Ben McArthur: well. They probably looked Muslim. Whatever that is since I’ve seen them of all types by the GPO.
Maybe they were three actors rehearsing for a play!
@winston smith: I hope they weren’t all in the same toilet cubicle .
This happened yesterday , no word on the 3 men , only they were handed over to Cologne police . Are they still in custody ?
Better safe than sorry !!!
Sure what are we all talking about these days. Bombs, knives, terror attacks. Getting g on trains, planes and going to concerts we talk about it even more because we are.more aware of the threats.
@Gerry Adams: Hopefully never .ie
What are we all talking about these times. Terror attacks, bombs and knives. Getting on planes, trains or going to concerts, we talk about it too, because we are even more aware. Whether they were planning a terror attacks or just talking, we’ never know anyway!
@Ann Casey: And some people do it so often that they sometimes end up repeating themselves lol
have your say