Buckle Sparks Fear at Major Spanish Railway Stations

Barcelona (Spain): A novelty belt buckle designed in the style of a hand grenade prompted Spanish police to evacuate passengers from major railway stations in Barcelona and in Madrid on Wednesday after the suspicious object was detected inside a luggage item by security scanners, authorities said.

Regional police in Catalonia ordered passengers off two high-speed trains at Barcelona’s Sants railway station at around 8 a.m. and bomb disposal units were dispatched to the scene amid suspicions that a female passenger traveling to Madrid’s Atocha station was carrying an explosive device in her baggage, reports Efe news.

It transpired that the owner of the military-inspired accessory managed to board the train in Barcelona and was intercepted just after 10 a.m. upon her arrival in Madrid, where National Police ordered the partial evacuation of the Atocha station - which serves long-distance and suburban railway systems - as a precaution.

“Our agents carried out relevant checks at the Atocha station in Madrid and it turns out to be a false alarm,” the National Police later said in a statement on Twitter. “Everything has returned to normal.” (IANS)

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