Bomb Threat Forces PIA Plane Make Emergency Landing in China

A Tokyo-bound PIA flight today made an emergency landing at north China's major Tianjin port city airport, following a bomb hoax.

After taking off from Beijing, flight PK852 was en route Tokyo when it made the emergency landing in Tianjin amid a bomb scare, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) spokesman Danial Gilani was quoted as saying by the Dawn.

"After a thorough search, the alert turned out to be a hoax," the spokesman said.

The information about the presence of the bomb originated in China, said Mr. Gilani. The source of the bomb threat is being probed by Chinese authorities.

The flight was delayed for a couple of hours after authorities received information from an unidentified person that a bomb had been planted in the plane, the report said.

At Tianjin, the plane was searched and passengers made to disembark, following which Chinese authorities gave clearance to the plane to take off for Tokyo.

The PIA flight had departed from Islamabad from where it was scheduled to reach Tokyo after a brief stopover in China