Taiwan Zoo and Botanical Gardens Threatened by Bombs | Taiwan News

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Shoushan Zoo in Kaohsiung City and Fushan Botanical Garden in Yilan County were closed Thursday (May 18) due to bomb threats.

Kaohsiung’s tourism department said it had received an email demanding NT$10 million (US$325), Liberty Times reported. If there is no money, the bomb will be detonated at the Shoushan Zoo in Kaohsiung City and the Dragon and Tiger Tower, a famous landmark in the city’s Zuoying District.

Police helped evacuate 750 visitors from the zoo and cordoned off two locations. The zoo announced it would remain closed for the rest of the day, but a search of the zoo did not turn up any explosive devices.

While investigations into several recent bomb threats targeting train stations, national parks and museums focused on a Chinese national who had returned from studying in Taiwan, the IP of Thursday’s bomb threat was in the United States, the report said. The blackmailer left a mobile phone number and is currently under investigation.

Also on Thursday morning, the Fushan Botanical Garden in Yuanshan Township, Yilan County received an email warning that six bombs would go off at 2 p.m. While the police were searching the scene, they received a new message that the attack on tourists would be broadcast live. Online Friday (May 19) morning.

Authorities decided to close the gardens to the public for at least two days. In this case, the former Chinese student named Zhang was suspected of impersonating a Japanese lawyer, Liberty Times reported.