Malaysia's Labuan Airport Closed Due to Alleged Bomb Found on Runway

ILLUSTRATION/UNSPLASH/Tunafish

JAKARTA - Labuan Airport on Labuan Island, waters of Sabah, East Malaysia, was closed by the relevant authorities, following the discovery of an alleged old bomb, at a distance of about 150 meters from the runway.

Malaysian media in a report seen in Kuala Lumpur, Friday, June 26, said that due to the discovery of the suspected bomb, flight operations at Labuan Airport were disrupted.

According to the Notice to Pilots (NOTAM) uploaded via Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad (MAHB) Facebook, the temporary closure of the runway was announced by the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) at 17.00 Malaysia time.

The airport closure is carried out until further notice.

Currently, the Royal Malaysian Air Force together with the airport management is conducting a joint inspection in the runway area.

The closure caused several flights from Labuan to Miri and Kota Kinabalu to be canceled, while several flights to and through Labuan had to be diverted, delayed, or changed operations.

According to a BERNAMA media report, the bomb was suspected to be a World War II relic, and was found at a slope improvement project site in the area.