An IndiGo flight travelling from Lucknow to Dammam in Saudi Arabia made an emergency landing at Ahmedabad airport on Thursday evening after a bomb threat was reported on board.

The flight, numbered 6E97, landed at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Ahmedabad Airport at 5:45 pm. All 107 passengers and six crew members on board were safely disembarked after the aircraft landed.

According to airport police, a crew member found the word “bomb” written on a piece of paper on the flight. The discovery prompted the emergency landing in Ahmedabad.

Police and CISF search aircraft

Local police and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) carried out a search of the aircraft following the threat.

Officials said that nothing suspicious had been found on board so far. The passengers and crew were safely taken off the aircraft as security personnel examined the plane.

The incident comes days after another flight faced a similar security scare at Ahmedabad airport.

On August 31, an Air India Express flight travelling from Dammam to New Delhi made an emergency landing in Ahmedabad after a crew member found a message on a tissue paper claiming that there was a bomb on board. That threat was later found to be a hoax.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit India on September 12 and 13 to attend the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, China’s foreign ministry has confirmed.

The announcement ends days of uncertainty over whether Xi would travel to India for the high-profile summit. The visit has particular significance as it will be his first trip to India in seven years.

According to China’s foreign ministry, Xi will travel to New Delhi at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and participate in the BRICS Summit.

Xi Jinping’s first India visit in seven years

Xi’s upcoming visit comes after a period of strained India-China relations following the 2020 Galwan Valley border clashes. The clashes resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers, while the number of Chinese casualties was not known.

The Chinese president last visited India in 2019, when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an informal summit in Mamallapuram near Chennai.

Xi had earlier travelled to India in September 2014 during the first terms of both leaders. He also visited Goa in 2016 to attend the BRICS Summit.

India-China ties show signs of improvement

Relations between India and China have improved in recent years. The reference report notes that the change has come particularly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China last year.

India has also eased some restrictions on Chinese investment that were introduced after the 2020 border clashes, including in sectors such as electronics, capital goods and solar cells.

China’s foreign ministry has described India and China as “partners, not competitors”, saying the two countries represent opportunities rather than threats to each other’s development.

Xi and Prime Minister Modi also briefly met earlier this month at a regional forum in Kyrgyzstan.

The Chinese president’s presence at the BRICS Summit in New Delhi is therefore set to bring the two leaders together again as India and China work to improve their bilateral relationship.

At least 10 workers are feared trapped after a crane collapsed at a construction site in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar on Wednesday evening. Ambulances and fire engines have reached the site as rescue efforts get underway.

The incident was reported on September 9, with the latest information indicating that several workers may be trapped following the crane collapse.

Rescue operation underway

Emergency teams have been deployed at the Gandhinagar construction site following the accident. Ambulances and fire engines are present at the location as authorities work to respond to the situation.

The exact circumstances that led to the crane collapse and further details about the workers feared trapped were not immediately available in the initial report.