Three detained over flight bomb hoax

BEIJING - Three suspects have been detained for fabricating terror information that caused flight delays in the past week, the Ministry of Public Security announced on Saturday.

The suspects surnamed Tan, Xie and Wang are allegedly responsible for three bomb hoax cases that happened on October 27, 28 and 31, the ministry said in a statement.

The police did not say whether the suspects and the three cases were connected.

The suspects confessed to the offenses during interrogation and said they did it either because of life disputes or playing a practical joke, according to the statement.

Changsha Huanghua International Airport in central China's Hunan Province and Fuzhou Changle International Airport in southeast China's Fujian Province received phone calls on October 27 and 28 respectively, saying there was a bomb on an airplane.

On October 31, a man called the Changsha Huanghua International Airport twice, saying there were bombs on a number of airplanes.

In the statement, the ministry vowed to crack down on such cases severely and speedily because such offenses seriously endangers aviation and public life, as well as disrupts social order.

Under China's criminal and civil aviation laws, those who intentionally disrupt flights by fabricating threats may receive punishments ranging from detention to a jail term of up to five years, or more than five years for those whose actions have severe consequences.

Plane bomb hoaxes have occurred frequently in China recently.

From May 15 to 18, there were six cases of fabricated bomb threats, causing plane diversions, emergency landings and delays to 22 flights in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.