Atherton CBD locked down in bomb scare drama at NAB

THE Atherton CBD was brought to a standstill after a bomb scare on Main St yesterday turned out to be a false alarm.

ATHERTON ON ALERT: Police evacuated the Main St of Atherton after a suspected explosive device, that was later revealed to be a false alarm, was discovered by National Australia Bank staff yesterday. PICTURE: NATASHA EMECK

THE Atherton CBD was brought to a standstill after a bomb scare on Main St yesterday turned out to be a false alarm.

Police closed down parts of Main St and Grainger Lane after staff at the National Australia Bank reported that a suspected improvised explosive device had been left at the bank at 10am.

The suspect device was later identified as a phone connected to a powered speaker that had been inadvertently left on a bank ATM by a customer.

Police diverted traffic in the area on Main, Jack, Vernon and Mabel streets while investigating.

Senior Constable Russ Parker said because, bank staff did not recognise the device, they correctly contacted the police.

“In this kind of situation it’s always better to be safe than sorry,” he said.

Acting officer in charge at Atherton station Senior Sergeant Matthew Duncan said, after assessing the situation, police declared an emergency situation under the Public Safety Preservation Act (PSPA) 1986 and evacuated nearby businesses at 10.55am.

NAB employees evacuated to the back of the building on Grainger Lane.

“We’ve responded and identified that it is something that’s suspect,” he said. “At that stage what we’ve done is evacuated the building at either side of the bank just for safety.”

He said authorities had been waiting on the arrival of an explosives ordnance response team from Cairns to X-ray and assess the device but it was eventually not needed.

BOMB ALERT: Police evacuated the Main St of Atherton after a suspected explosive device that was later revealed to be a false alarm was discovered by National Australia Bank staff yesterday. Picture: Natasha Emeck

Originally published as Atherton CBD locked down in bomb scare drama at NAB