Bomb scare rocks Darwin’s Hilton Hotel
Darwin’s Hilton Hotel was evacuated, after a hotel guest found a note saying there was a bomb in her room.
At about 6.40pm on 8th March, the guest called the Northern Territory Police to report the note.
"We were having dinner in the dining room when a gentleman came along and said we had to evacuate the hotel, there has been an incident, and that's all we were told," Jan Trent, a New South Wales tourist told 9News.
The middle level story of the hotel had tactical response officers conducting an extensive search while hotel guests waited outside the hotel.
There was no device located and the building was deemed safe after the two hour search.
Hilton Darwin provided a free dinner to all the guests following the incident.
Markus Kaliss, the general director of Hilton Darwin said "It's great to see that everybody was safe, everybody knew what to do, guests felt taken care of."
The note is understood to have been slipped under the door’s guest, however a lack of CCTV cameras in the hallways is making it difficult for police to track down the offender. Forensic testing has been ordered on the piece of paper and authorities are waiting on the results.
Mr Kaliss saw the scare as a good crisis management test for staff.
"Good to see that things work because we practice them on tabletop exercises, but last night we had an opportunity to put it in practice," he said.
If anyone has any information about the hoax, they are urged to contact police on 131 444 or anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
11th March 2021
