Man freed after alert forces plane to land in Sweden Published duration 25 September 2010

image caption One of the passengers is detained by police beneath the Pakistan International Airlines plane

A man has been released following police questioning after a Pakistan International Airlines plane landed in Sweden because of a bomb alert.

He was detained as passengers were taken off the Pakistan-bound plane at Arlanda airport near Stockholm.

An airport spokesman said the Boeing 777 plane was carrying 273 people from Toronto in Canada to Karachi.

Canadian authorities were told by a woman there that a passenger was apparently carrying explosives.

The man who was detained was described as a Canadian of Pakistani origin in his 30s.

Stockholm police spokesman Kjell Lindgren said a prosecutor had decided to free him after questioning.

Airport officials said the plane would probably continue its journey on Sunday.

Emergency landing

The pilot was said to have requested permission to make an emergency landing at Arlanda when he was told of the threat while flying through Swedish airspace.

He then parked the plane at the end of the landing strip away from the terminals and the aircraft was evacuated.

Two-hundred-and-forty-three passengers were said to be on the flight, identified as flight PK782 travelling from Toronto.

The Swedish authorities said that they had taken the threat seriously and had explosives experts on hand.