A police bomb response team is rushing to Mullumbimby, after a “suspicious package” was discovered near a bank in the quiet northern NSW town early on Thursday.
Parts of the town have been shut down and people evacuated after police were called to the local Commonwealth Bank branch on Station Street about 7.30am after reports a suspicious item had been found.
“On arrival police located what appeared to be an improvised explosive device, before establishing a 200m exclusion zone,” a police spokesperson said.
The local Northern Star newspaper reports that police are treating the suspected bomb as a “real device”, and expect their operation to deal with it could last throughout Thursday.
Police are flying a robot up from Sydney by helicopter to investigate the device. Additional resources, including a rescue and bomb disposal unit, have also been sent to scene.
A Police Operation is currently underway in Mullumbimby.Police from Tweed/Byron Police District were called to Station…
Posted by Tweed-Byron Police District on Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Fire and Rescue NSW’s Rob Jansen said the device was found in a car park behind the bank.
Police urged people to avoid Burringbar Street and Station Street.
The Commonwealth Bank said staff and customers from the Mullumbimby branch had been evacuated.
“Our first priority is the safety of our people and customers,” the bank said.
“Police are investigating the incident and we are cooperating with them fully. All other questions should be referred to the police.”
The Mullumbimby incident comes just two days after Southern Cross University’s Lismore campus, less than 50 kilometres away, put itself into lockdown following a threatening phone call.
Nearby schools and childcare centres were also locked down for several hours on Tuesday. The threat was later revealed to be a hoax.
-with AAP
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