'Gold bars' ground Indian airliner in Malaysia

An Indian airliner made an emergency landing in Malaysia on Thursday over a bomb scare, but fear turned to puzzlement once authorities discovered the contents of a suspicious package: three golden bars.

An Indian airliner made an emergency landing in Malaysia on Thursday over a bomb scare, but fear turned to puzzlement once authorities discovered the contents of a suspicious package: three golden bars.

The pilot of the IndiGo budget airline flight from Singapore to Chennai in India diverted to Malaysia early Thursday after a crew member found the package in the toilet.

A Malaysian fire and rescue team that inspected the package at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) found it contained three bars weighing less than 1 kilogramme (2.2 pounds) combined.

They were believed to be gold but authorities did not confirm that.

After evacuating the more than 100 passengers, a search found nothing dangerous.

"It was not chemicals. It was bars of gold-coloured metal wrapped up in cloth," said Sani Harul, a fire official.

The airliner later resumed its flight to India. The case is being investigated.

"We questioned the crew, but no passengers, as the yellow-coloured items were found in the toilet, not in anyone's possession," police official Zaldino Zaludin said.