An Air France flight headed to Paris was forced to land in Kenya early Sunday after a suspected bomb was found in the plane’s bathroom.
Reports Sunday indicated that the device resembled a bomb but may have lacked actual explosive material.
During the flight, which departed from Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, a small Indian Ocean island state, a passenger noticed something in the bathroom that looked like “a stopwatch mounted on a box,” according to news reports citing Kenyan police officials.
Kenyan authorities said they were testing the suspected bomb and questioning suspects on the plane. Six passengers were being questioned, Kenyan officials told reporters.
The discovery forced the plane to land in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa after the pilots learned of the device.
“It requested an emergency landing when a device suspected to be an explosive was discovered in the lavatory,” Kenyan police spokesman Charles Owino said at a press conference.
The plane was carrying 459 passengers and 14 crew members.
