This is one of those stories that just prompts so many questions. The Independent reports that freelance journalist Ned Donavan posted a series of tweets from Rome’s Fiumicino airport. The first one notes that “The Italian police have just blown up someone’s bag in Rome Airport and are now going through someone’s pants.” Then it turns out that the bag contained coconuts. Then the airport was apparently reopened.
So many questions. Why did the police blow up the bag? Did they think the coconuts were like little bombs in cartoons with sparking wicks and the letters “TNT” on the front? And who travels with a bag of coconuts? And why was the solution to explode the bag… which they thought contained bombs?
For his part, Donavan found the whole incident rather than amusing (rather than harrowing, which it must have been at some points). He wrote on Twitter: “There’s so much about this incident that I enjoyed and also felt so Italian. They blew up what they thought was a bomb in the middle of the airport while people were about 10 metres away, and then when it was destroyed the police just wandered off and left it to be cleaned up.” The mystery behind this incident remains, but a reminder: Please don’t leave any bags unattended at the airport. Otherwise your coconuts might get blown up.