Australian bomb squads rushed to a house in a Sydney suburb on Wednesday to defuse what media reports said may be an explosive device strapped to a young woman’s body.
Police said they could not confirm the reports that the device was strapped to the woman’s neck or that the bomb scare was part of an extortion plot.
Assistant commissioner Mark Murdoch told television reporters that the woman was “in the vicinity” of the device, but would not confirm that it was strapped to her body.
He said the case was being handled by the robbery and serious crimes squad, which he said dealt with extortion, among other crimes.
“Specialist police are with the young lady and continue to verify exactly what we are dealing with,” Murdoch said.
Police responded to a call about the suspicious package at the house in mid-afternoon and were still investigating the package six hours later.
“We have clearly found some items in the house that we are having a close look at.”
Police said they had evacuated the area surrounding the house in the suburb of Mosman, one of the city’s plushest districts. — Reuters