An early morning bomb scare rattled Kathmandu's international airport on May Day but was quickly dispelled by authorities after a security check.
Around 6.45 a.m. on Tuesday, which was a public holiday because of International Labour Day, the control room at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport was alerted by a call from India's Kolkata airport.
Officials said they had received information a bomb was aboard a Qatar Airways flight.
"They could not give us any more information, like the flight number or time," the duty officer at the airport, who declined to be named, told the media.
"We immediately raised the alarm and the planes were strictly checked. It turned out to be a false alarm."
After some delay, due to the additional security check, Qatar Airways' flight 351 left for Doha without any untoward incident.
Airport officials said other flights were not affected and were departing as per schedule.
What added to the panic was a report by Indian television channel Nepal1.
In its 11 a.m. news bulletin on Tuesday, it was announced that there was a bomb on board.
Nepal's airport authorities remain sensitive about security threats since an Indian Airlines plane was hijacked from the airport and taken to Kandahar in 1999. A passenger was killed by the terrorist group behind the hijack.
{{/usCountry}}Nepal's airport authorities remain sensitive about security threats since an Indian Airlines plane was hijacked from the airport and taken to Kandahar in 1999. A passenger was killed by the terrorist group behind the hijack.
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