AMERICAN MAN ARRESTED AFTER BOMB THREAT
An American native reportedly threatened to blow up the Central Tower, located at the heart of the city on the east side of Sukhbaatar Square, at around 4:00 p.m. on January 9. Local media report that the suspect demanded to meet the Canadian Ambassador at the Canadian Embassy on the sixth floor of the Central Tower and threatened to set off a bomb when he wasn’t able to meet him.
According to a spokesperson from the General Police Department, a 51-year-old US citizen was taken into custody as suspect of a bomb attack. The police searched the site, but did not find a bomb.
Most local media report that the suspect wanted to meet the Canadian ambassador, but a source close to the issue claimed that the suspect demanded to meet the Danish ambassador at around 4:00 p.m., but seemed to misunderstand when a receptionist who was on the 15th floor of the Central Tower told him that there wasn’t a Danish Embassy in the Central Tower. The source added that it’s uncertain whether the suspect really threatened to blow off the place, and that security guards and the police came soon after.
Sukhbaatar District police and emergency rescuers arrived at the scene by 5:44 p.m. and instructed people inside the building to evacuate and searched for a bomb in the building.
At 6:45, the police set up a 200-meter command post and stood on guard outside to ensure no one enter the building. They finished a preliminary assessment and search at 8:05 p.m. and made a report. The report read that the police haven’t found any explosive substance or material, and assured that it was safe to continue operations. The Property Management Department of the Central Tower closely cooperated in the investigation, the report said. At the time, the police wasn’t able to confirm that the suspect was a Danish national.
On Monday evening, the Embassy of Canada to Mongolia responded to the news on their Twitter page.
“The Embassy is aware of a bomb threat made against the Central Tower this afternoon at 17:00. We have no reliable information that ties this incident to the Canadian Embassy in any way. All Embassy staff are safe,” the embassy tweeted.
The General Agency for Investigation is currently investigating the case, according to a police spokesperson.
Some local media reported that the suspect was a Danish national and later clarified that he was indeed a US national.