Nairobi: A Kenyan police official says six passengers are being questioned over a suspected bomb found on an Air France plane that forced the jet that was flying to Paris from Mauritius to make an emergency landing in Kenya.
The police official, who is part of the investigation and insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to give information to the media, said during the flight a passenger noticed something in a lavatory which looked like "a stop watch mounted on a box."
The passenger reported to the cabin crew who informed the pilots leading to an emergency landing at the Moi International Airport in Mombasa. He said one of those being interrogated is the man who reported the package.
The Boeing 777 Air France flight 463 was heading to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris when the pilots requested an emergency landing at the Moi International Airport at 12:37 am, Kenyan police spokesman Charles Owino said.
The plane was carrying 459 passengers and 14 crew members on board and had left Mauritius at 9 pm, Owino said.
"The object, believed to be an explosive device has successfully been retrieved from the aircraft," said Kenya Airports Authority in a post on Twitter, adding that scheduled flights to Mombasa were disrupted during the interval but that normal operations have resumed.
"The plane just went down slowly, slowly, slowly, so we just realized probably something was wrong," said Benoit Lucchini of Paris.
The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius is a popular destination for French tourists.
Two Air France flights from the US to Paris were diverted on November 18 after bomb threats were received. No bombs were found on the planes from Los Angeles and Washington, DC.
The police official, who is part of the investigation and insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to give information to the media, said during the flight a passenger noticed something in a lavatory which looked like "a stop watch mounted on a box."
The passenger reported to the cabin crew who informed the pilots leading to an emergency landing at the Moi International Airport in Mombasa. He said one of those being interrogated is the man who reported the package.
The Boeing 777 Air France flight 463 was heading to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris when the pilots requested an emergency landing at the Moi International Airport at 12:37 am, Kenyan police spokesman Charles Owino said.
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The plane was carrying 459 passengers and 14 crew members on board and had left Mauritius at 9 pm, Owino said.
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"The object, believed to be an explosive device has successfully been retrieved from the aircraft," said Kenya Airports Authority in a post on Twitter, adding that scheduled flights to Mombasa were disrupted during the interval but that normal operations have resumed.
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"The plane just went down slowly, slowly, slowly, so we just realized probably something was wrong," said Benoit Lucchini of Paris.
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The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius is a popular destination for French tourists.
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Two Air France flights from the US to Paris were diverted on November 18 after bomb threats were received. No bombs were found on the planes from Los Angeles and Washington, DC.
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