Bomb scare causes airport evacuation

Ports police temporarily evacuated passengers and employees from the Saipan International Airport’s building Friday night following reports that security screeners detected what was initially suspected as a bomb from a passenger’s luggage. The alleged bomb reportedly turned out to be a personalized disc player.

The temporary evacuation, which lasted several minutes, slightly delayed the departure of a Manila-bound flight.

This transpired before the scheduled proclamation signing today of CNMI Disaster Preparedness Week.

The sudden evacuation aroused curiosity among the passengers, including those who were sent out from the building after checking in their luggage. The incident, however, did not cause panic.

The incident happened about 8:30pm. Ports police officers prevented people from going near the entrance of SIA’s departure area, as police vehicles turned on emergency lights that hinted of an alert. Authorities also instructed motorists to drive their vehicles away from the departure area’s entrance doors.

As passengers inquired about what was going on, a ports police officer kept replying: “It’s for your safety.”

There were reports that the Transportation Security Administration’s X-ray machine detected a suspected bomb from the luggage of a Manila-bound passenger. The luggage reportedly contained a personalized compact disc player that had several wires, prompting the temporary evacuation of passengers until the item was ruled out from being an explosive.

Viola Sablan, the TSA’s acting director for Saipan, refused to divulge information on the incident as of press time. Commonwealth Ports Authority executive director Carlos Salas was unavailable for interview to shed light on the reports.

The evacuation resulted in a long line of passengers waiting for their respective turn to be screened at the departure area when the situation normalized several minutes later.

Continental Airlines’ Manila-bound flight, which was supposed to depart the airport at 8:45pm, left for the Philippines around 9pm.

Meanwhile, the Emergency Management Office said the official proclamation signing of Preparedness Week would be held today at the Aqua Resort Club at 10am. The public awareness campaign on preparedness runs through Friday.

EMO director Rudolfo Pua said the purpose of the proclamation is to promote public awareness and help prepare the public for natural and man-made disasters, including terrorist attacks. The awareness campaign would also focus on preparedness for disaster situations during typhoons, fire, earthquakes, and tsunamis, among others.

As part of the campaign, the EMO scheduled emergency response demonstrations before high school students this week.

Hazardous materials and terrorism response demonstrations will be conducted at the Southern High School on Wednesday at 10am. Similar demonstrations will also be conducted at the Mt. Carmel School and Kagman High School on Thursday and Friday at 9am and 11am, respectively.