A young traveller has described being treated like a 'terrorist' after two innocuous items in his luggage triggered a lockdown at one of Australia's busiest airports. The incident occurred on Thursday at Melbourne's Avalon Airport, where security detected a suspicious item concealed inside a hot chocolate container.
Bomb Squad Called to Avalon Airport
Victoria's bomb squad unit was summoned to the airport as passengers were evacuated, resulting in hours-long delays for the remainder of the day. Upon closer inspection, the suspicious item was identified as a laser hair removal device.
The young man, who wished to remain anonymous, told 9News that he initially followed other passengers outside during the evacuation before being approached by police. He was taken into custody while officers tested the device and the powdered hot chocolate found inside his bag.
'This is wild. You're being accused of being a terrorist, so that's a pretty big deal,' he said. 'They didn't really tell me what was going on. What was the suspicion, what did you find inside?'
Passenger's Attitude Fuelled Suspicion
Victoria Police Acting Inspector Nick Uebergang stated that the hair removal device was inside a cardboard hot chocolate container. He noted that the young passenger was not overly cooperative when explaining the contents of his luggage, and his 'confident' attitude only heightened suspicion.
'It made things difficult, we could have averted things and got out of here a lot quicker,' Inspector Uebergang said. 'It's fair to say that the person that had the bag probably wasn't too cooperative with us to start off with, which made things more difficult. He wasn't giving too much information to us about what was in his bag.'
Man Released Without Charge
The man was eventually cleared by security and caught a later flight to Sydney. Passengers were allowed back into the terminal five hours after the items were identified. An airport spokesman confirmed that a person had been detained after a security scare, and Avalon Airport thanked police for their response.
'Today's response demonstrates the vigilance of the screening and security processes, with precautionary measures taken immediately to ensure the safety of passengers, staff and the broader community, which will always remain our highest priority,' the airport said. A police spokesman added that the man was released without charge.
In addition to the security incident, a damaged X-ray machine caused further delays at Avalon Airport, located 50km from Melbourne's CBD.
