DutchAmsterdam.nl — An Amsterdam police SWAT team has arrested a man at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, after he had told several people that he was carrying a bomb.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Prior to barricading himself in a toilet stall near the Panorama Terrace, Schiphol’s observation deck, the man reportedly told travelers, “I have a bomb. One push on the button will set it off.”
Some Dutch media outlets say the man had also called the Marechaussee (Dutch Military Police) stationed at the airport, telling them he had a bomb.
The man, referred to by observers as ‘confused,’ was arrested at 13:10 (1:30 pm).
Members of the Explosives Ordnance Disposal unit are examining a package the man had been carrying.
Of the four main terminals, terminal 1 was fully evacuated and sealed off. Passengers and personnel were also evacuated from a section of terminal 2.
Terminals 3 and 4, as well as Schiphol Plaza — the airport’s pre-customs shopping center and main hall — remained open.
The airport continued checking in passengers, but a number of flights were delayed.
Schiphol Airport
Schiphol is one of Europe’s busiest airports.
On Christmas Day, 2009, a student from Nigeria smuggled explosives onto a flight from Schiphol to Detroit after flying into Amsterdam from Lagos. He was subdued by passengers after he unsuccessfully tried to detonate the bomb.
The man is due to be sentenced in the U.S. this Thursday, and faces a sentence of life in prison.
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