NZ Dunedin Airport Reopens After Suspicious Package Investigated - Statement

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The airport of the city of Dunedin in the south of New Zealand has resumed operations following an alert over a suspicious package that was found on the airfield earlier on Sunday.

“Dunedin Airport is open. Please check our website for flight information”, the airport wrote on Twitter.

Dunedin Airport is open. Please check our website for flight information https://t.co/A3LDzpQjyC or with your airline. https://t.co/AXH5u2I275

— Dunedin Airport (@DunedinAirport) 17 марта 2019 г.

Earlier in the day, local media reported that Dunedin Airport was cordoned off, with an explosive ordinance team having arrived at the site to check the package. The latter turned out to be a hoax object.

The alert at the airport comes two days after the country was rocked by the violent shooting in two mosques in eastern city of Christchurch, which left 50 people killed and dozens injured.

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New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called the shooting a terrorist act, saying it was the country's "darkest day".

The suspected shooter is Brenton Harrison Tarrant, 28, Australian national and a Dunedin resident, who had explained his motives by his anti-Muslim and anti-migrant views in a manifesto published before the attack. Moreover, a massacre footage, which showed the  perpetrator livestreaming his actions, has gone viral.

Facebook, however, has removed as many as 1.5 million video clips depicting the shooting over the first 24 hours, with the social media giant preventing most of the videos from being posted in the first place. Facebook has also said that the social network was also deleting those versions of the video that had been edited and did not contain graphic scenes.

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On Saturday, a court in New Zealand ruled to remand Tarrant in custody until 5 April, while the police said they expected further charges to be brought against him.