Travellers were left anxious and stranded for hours at the Bukit Kayu Hitam Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security Complex (ICQS) after an unattended suitcase was suspected of containing explosives.
Several users took to social media to share their experiences following the incident at the border checkpoint last night, with some describing the tense wait while authorities carried out security checks.
One user, Yasmin Aleeya, said she was held up at the checkpoint for about two hours and claimed to have heard an explosion during the incident.
“Had to wait two hours at the Bukit Kayu Hitam border. Heard what sounded like a bomb exploding — usually, I only see that in movies,” she said.
Another user, Mymy Yourhanis, said she encountered the disruption while travelling back to Malaysia from Thailand.
She said the Malaysian border was reportedly closed after a suspected bomb was discovered inside luggage, leaving her stranded for about two hours.
“Tonight’s journey out of Thailand turned into an unexpected experience. The Malaysia border was closed because a bomb was reportedly found in luggage. We were stuck there for two hours, and it was frightening hearing them deal with the suspected explosive,” she said.
Earlier, it was reported that the Bomb Disposal Unit (UPB) from the Kedah Police Contingent Headquarters was deployed to the ICQS after an unattended suitcase was flagged by a scanner as containing images suspected to be explosives and drugs.
Police received information about the abandoned luggage at around 5.55pm yesterday in the Immigration and Customs inspection area at Block B of the complex.
The suitcase was subsequently examined by authorities. However, the inspection found that there were no explosives inside the luggage, bringing the tense security situation to an end.
The incident nevertheless caused significant disruption at the busy Malaysia-Thailand border crossing as authorities prioritised safety and carried out checks before allowing normal operations to resume.
