Durban — Explosives Unit officers were sent to a secondary school in oThongathi after calls of a bomb scare.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said that police responded to reports of a bomb at a school on Wednesday and necessary precautionary measures were taken.
“The Explosives Unit officers were summoned to the scene and after sweeping the area, the results of a bomb scare returned negative,” Netshiunda said.
Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) spokesperson Prem Balram said that they stood off at Tongaat Secondary School in oThongathi after administration staff received eight calls about a bomb in the school.
Balram said that teachers evacuated pupils from their classes and contacted Rusa for assistance.
“The calls were received from an adult male. He requested that the school be evacuated or the bomb would be detonated,” Balram said.
Around 1.42pm, reaction officers were awaiting the Tongaat SAPS.
Then before 4pm, Rusa said: “The King Shaka International Airport K9 Unit conducted a sweep of the entire school with specialised dogs. No explosives were detected.”
Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident earlier this month, the discovery of a mortar bomb at a scrapyard in Ottawa, in Verulam, resulted in the evacuation of the premises.
Netshiunda said police in Verulam responded to reports of a mortar bomb which was found in a scrapyard.
He said that the Bomb Disposal Unit of the South African Police Service was summoned to the scene and their assessment confirmed that it was an illuminating mortar bomb, however the area was declared safe. The bomb was seized and will be procedurally subjected to destruction.
He added that no injuries were reported.
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