Bomb threat diverts Moscow-bound Aeroflot flight Published duration 16 August 2012

image caption Aeroflot said it was warned suitcases containing explosives were on board (file image)

A Russian Aeroflot flight from New York to Moscow has made an emergency landing in Iceland's Keflavik airport after a bomb threat, but no bomb was found.

An anonymous caller had warned New York police that a bomb was inside luggage on board the plane.

Aeroflot spokeswoman Irina Dannenberg said the pilot decided to land the aircraft, and that it landed safely.

A search of the plane and its luggage turned up no explosives, police spokesman Vidir Reynisson told the BBC.

The 256 passengers, who were searched after being taken off the plane, were to return to Moscow on another Aeroflot aircraft later on Thursday, the company said on its website.

Flight 103 from John F Kennedy airport in New York had been scheduled to land at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport before being diverted to Keflavik.

The anonymous caller warned that there were five suitcases on the plane containing explosives, which would detonate once it reached Moscow.

"The bomb threat was made sometime earlier in the morning and at 05:30 GMT the plane decided to head for Keflavik," said Fridthor Eydal, a spokesman for the airport. "The aeroplane landed safely at 06:27," he said.