Bomb hoaxes force eight European passenger jets to divert for searches

A series of bomb threats prompted at least eight passenger jets to make emergency landings or undergo searches across Europe within 24 hours. No explosives were found in the incidents described, but the alerts disrupted flights and left passengers stranded, including teenagers travelling from London on a Holocaust education trip.

On Tuesday, a LOT flight from Heathrow to Warsaw carrying 181 people diverted to Warsaw-Modlin, while a Ryanair flight from Manchester landed in Murcia with 114 passengers. Other alerts affected flights in Poland, Italy and Bulgaria, including two Ryanair services searched at Rome and two aircraft bound for Sofia. Officials described the threats as malicious hoaxes, but it remains unclear who made them or whether the incidents were connected.