HUNDREDS of passengers bound for Horseshoe Bay were evacuated from a ferry in Nanaimo on the weekend after an anonymous caller claimed there was a bomb on board.
The unidentified culprit phoned B.C. Ferries just after 3 p.m. Saturday to say there was an explosive device hidden somewhere on the Queen of Coquitlam, which was just preparing to leave Departure Bay for the mainland.
The crew ordered some 500 travellers back to shore immediately, leaving their vehicles and other possessions behind while RCMP descended on the area to search it. A bomb sniffing canine unit scoured the ship while other officers helped shut down the terminal and seal parts of the harbour to private boat traffic. Officials used public buses to transfer the marooned passengers to an auditorium in the city while they waited until 6: 30 p.m. for the all clear.
The case has been turned over to the Nanaimo RCMP serious crimes unit.
SETTING IT STRAIGHT
The following quotation was wrongly attributed to Jim Miller in the May 27 North Shore News:
"I call them the landmarks; the drawing pins in the ground to connect all those maps, plans, photographs, some old movies that we've got still."
It should have been attributed to Peter T. Miller, president of the North Shore Heritage Preservation Society.
