Anger over fake bomb at airport

A SECURITY exercise has been condemned as 'irresponsible' after a dummy bomb sparked a major security alert at Charles de Gaulle airport.

The alarm was raised when FedEx workers discovered a pressure cooker filled with screws and bolts in a freight package from America that was destined for Tunisia, Le Parisien reports.

A search revealed more devices, along with what appeared to be detonators.

But the devices were decoys bound for the US embassy in Tunisia that were being used for a training exercise, a security source at the airport told the newspaper.

“This kind of transit is not common but sometimes place,” the unnamed source said. “It's just the first time that a parcel has been opened.”

Frederic Petit, the CGT representative for FedEx at the airport, was unimpressed. “It is irresponsible", he said, "especially in the very state of emergency" declared after the November attacks.

"Nobody was aware of this cargo."
He added that FedEx employees were demanding answers from their bosses, and also said they were calling for such parcels to be banned from France.

Photo: Eric Salard / Flickr