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EgyptAir plane leaves Uzbekistan for China with no bomb found onboard

A plane heading from Cairo to Beijing earlier made an emergency landing in Uzbekistan due to a bomb threat

CAIRO, June 8 /TASS/. The EgyptAir plane that made an emergency landing at Urgench airport in Uzbekistan early on Wednesday has continued its flight to Beijing. The plane safely left Urgench after no bomb had been found on its board, the Egyptian authorities said.

The plane bound for Beijing landed in Uzbekistan after the Cairo international airport had received an anonymous phone call about a bomb allegedly planted on board of the A330-220 airliner shortly after its take off from Cairo. The crew asked for permission to land the plane at the nearest airport. Uzbekistan allowed the landing at the air harbor in Urgench. The Uzbek authorities had sent demining experts to the airport. All the passengers were evacuated. Their luggage and the airliner were checked with scrutiny.

It was a third alarm call about bombs planted on Egypt Air planes over the past week. The two previous calls were also false.

EgyptAir came under serious pressure after two major incidents, which have taken place in recent months: the hi-jack of a plane to Cyprus and the crash of a plane from Paris that claimed the lives of 66 people. Egypt Air, the country’s main national airline, as well as the Egyptian authorities are being accused - directly and indirectly - of inability to guarantee the safety of flights and passengers.