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An Air India Flight was turned back to Toronto's Pearson International airport Monday night after a suspicious package was found on board, reports reaching Ottawa said Tuesday.
Toronto police confirmed Tuesday that Air India flight 188, bound for England, was turned back some one hour after take-off from Toronto.
The suspicious package had been detonated by bomb disposal experts in Toronto, but investigators now believe the package never posed a threat to passengers, Const. Pete Brandwood of Peel Regional Police told reporters.
"There's nothing to suggest the contents of the package were suspicious," Brandwood said, adding that it was going to take investigators "some time" to find out exactly what the package contained.
Brandwood said the pilot and crew on board were alerted to the package while they were in the air somewhere over Montreal by a passenger who discovered it in the bathroom.
The flight took off at around 9:30 p.m. local time Monday night en route to Delhi, India, with a planned stop over in Birmingham, England.
After being diverted back to Pearson, around 140 passengers were taken off the plane at around 11 p.m. and taken to a hotel.
Passengers were all re-screened and interviewed at a restricted area at Pearson Airport. Police said nobody has come forward to claim the package.
The plane was still in a secluded area at the tarmac Tuesday morning. Airport officials said the next scheduled flight to India is on Wednesday, but an earlier flight could be arranged.
(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2006)
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