An American family wreaked havoc at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday when they attempted to pass through security with a dud they picked up as a souvenir in the Golan Heights.
Video posted by public broadcaster Kan shows the chaos that broke out at the international airport as people fled the check-in area and hid amidst the horror.
The incident began when the American family with the unexploded bomb showed up for their flight at the airport outside of Tel Aviv, the Washington Post reported.
A family member took the case from a backpack and asked a security officer if it could be put in a suitcase, the BBC reported, citing the YNet news.
The officer ordered the area to be evacuated, but another passenger misunderstood and began shouting, “Terrorists are shooting.” This caused the terminal to panic.
An American family sparked panic at Ben Gurion International Airport when they tried to take an unexploded ordnance they found onto a plane. CEN
A 32-year-old man, identified as Uri, was injured during the panic and was taken to hospital.
“I was standing at the airport and waiting in line for an hour to get to the check-in desk and suddenly people within five meters started running away leaving luggage,” he told YNet, the BBC reported.
“The fear was someone spraying bullets. I understood that I too had to flee, so I ran to check-in, stumbled onto a conveyor belt… and flew twenty feet,” he said.
The family said one of their children found the bomb while touring the Golan Heights. CEN
The tourists told officials that one of their children found the shell that Israel took from the Syrians during the 1967 Six-Day War during a sightseeing tour of the Golan Heights.
The local news agency reported that the family was unaware of the danger involved in towing the duds.
After being grilled over their explosive souvenir, the family were allowed to board their flight. It was not immediately clear where the head of the family was.
Panic arose when a traveler misunderstood the situation and yelled that terrorists had fired. CEN
In January, the Israeli army detonated hundreds of munitions from a 45-year-old Syrian bunker recently discovered in the Golan, The Washington Post reported.
In 2019, then-President Donald Trump made the controversial decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, which the country annexed in 1981.
With mail wires