Town paralysed by triple bomb threat

By STAFF REPORTERS

TE AROHA - Detectives are hunting a would-be bomber who threatened to blow up a Te Aroha bank, school and library.

The threat sparked a full-scale emergency yesterday in the Waikato town of 3500. Five primary schools and almost all shops and businesses were evacuated and most of the town centre was sealed off for six hours.

The alert began after a man rang the Bank of New Zealand branch at 11.50 am and warned a female teller that explosives had been placed in the bank, the library and an unnamed primary school.

Sergeant Allan Cantley, of Morrinsville, declined to say whether the caller made any demands, but said he sounded threatening.

Four bank staff then found a device wired to batteries in a recess of the bank.

Sergeant Cantley headed a full-scale emergency callout involving the Ministry of Defence bomb disposal squad, the police specialist search unit and local volunteer fire brigades.

An uneasy silence settled as experts disarmed the device, which turned out not to be a bomb, while police and firefighters scoured the library and schools.

At the National Bank, teller Eileen Fowler took a call from her BNZ counterpart just before noon to tell her of the phone call "and a box with wires in it."

For the rest of the afternoon, Mrs Fowler, her workmates and staff from nearby shops and offices sat out what they said was an annoying ordeal.

"It's scary to know something like this could happen in our little town," said Sarah Michels, a Harcourt's worker.

At Te Aroha Primary School, principal Kelly Plummer said the 240 pupils were taken to the school hall for lunch and then on to the playing field. The parents of nearly all the students had picked them up by 3 pm.

The schools were advised to move the children to a safe place without alarming them.

Mr Plummer, caretaker Guy Rasmussen and other senior staff guided police searchers, while Mr Rasmussen's wife, Raewyn, waited at the gate, "hoping he doesn't get blown up."

Shop owner Duncan Anderson said a police officer came into his business, the Caffe Banco, about 12.30 pm and asked everyone to leave. "The street is absolutely dead quiet," he said by cellphone yesterday afternoon. "There are just a couple of helicopters overhead."

"Peter," at the Domain House Restaurant, said he had heard a rumour that "some clown" was holding the town to ransom for $15,000.

As firefighters checked Stanley Ave Primary School, Monica Trebes, from the nearby dairy, said the townspeople were stunned.

"If they're targeting schools and children, that's pretty horrendous. You can sort of understand someone doing it to a bank for money, but not a school."

Last night, Sergeant Cantley said there were no clues who the caller was. Investigations would continue today of the battery and wiring at the bank, but he said the device did not contain explosives.

No other suspicious devices were found and the town was reopened about 6 pm.