Police are trying to trace an anonymous caller who last Sunday evening claimed there was a bomb aboard an international flight in Guangzhou.

Guangzhou-Nairobi flight KQ233, which was scheduled to take off at 7:40 PM on Sunday, was delayed for over three hours after Guangzhou Baiyun Airport received an anonymous call claiming a bomb had been hidden on the plane.

Police cars, fire engines and ambulances surrounded the plane. All the passengers were transferred to the waiting area and luggage was removed from the plane at around 9:00 PM and examined.

After police had checked the plane, passengers were asked to re-board and the plane finally took off at 10:35 PM.

Anonymous calls can create massive disturbances, particularly during the Spring Festival high season from Feb. 3 to March. 14, when 19.3 million Chinese people are expected to travel by air, said an airport official.

Hoax calls carry jail terms of up to five years, according to Chinese law.

(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2007)