Malta man held over false bomb threat on Amsterdam-Berlin train

Police in the Netherlands arrested a Maltese man for making a false report about a bomb threat that purportedly targeted an international train, a police report revealed on Sunday. The train, travelling from Amsterdam to Berlin, Germany on December 28, was prematurely stopped and evacuated in Oldenzaal, Overijssel as a result of the report.

About 85 people were taken off the Deutsche Bahn train over what police called a "suspicious situation." While Dutch train network firm ProRail said it was due to the discovery of a threatening letter, police never confirmed if the letter was actually found.

Two days later, authorities arrested the man who claimed to have discovered the bomb threat after investigators determined no such letter ever existed, police said. He was detained at the police station in Borne, 14 kilometers west of Oldenzaal, where he turned himself in to law enforcement officers.

The suspect was still in custody on Sunday morning. He had been travelling through the Netherlands as part of a holiday.