A Russian Azur Air plane with 244 people on board made an emergency landing at a military air base in India due to a bomb threat, authorities said on Tuesday.
The plane from Moscow bound for Goa in southwestern India, with 236 passengers and eight crew members, landed at the Indian Air Force’s Jamnagar airbase , in the state of Gujarat, late Monday night.
According to local media, the flight was diverted from its route after Azur Air received an email informing them that a bomb was on board the aircraft. The Russian Embassy in India said it was alerted by Indian authorities.
“All people on board are safe. The authorities are carrying out a thorough inspection of the plane,” the Russian embassy said on Twitter on Tuesday morning.
State police told AFP that an anti-terrorism unit was inspecting the plane and the luggage of those on board, while passengers waited at the airport. “Nothing suspicious has been found so far,” Premsukh Delu, a police official from Jamnagar, said on Tuesday.
Russian tourists have been banned from many countries since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but they continue to flock to India in large numbers, especially on the coast of Goa.