Manama: Bahraini authorities have said that the bomb-making material seized on a bus on the causeway with Saudi Arabia was being smuggled inside a bag by a minor.

The equipment was discovered when officers on the King Fahd Causeway border conducted a search of the bus coming from Iraq via Saudi Arabia with 55 passengers on-board, mostly women and children, Advocate General and Chief Prosecutor of the Terror Crimes Prosecution Ahmad Al Hammadi said.

“A screening of the passengers’ luggage with X-ray machines showed that one of the bags contained suspicious things,” he said. “During a closer inspection, 140 electric detonators, 41 electric circuits that could be used in blasts, a remote control and some mobile phones were found hidden inside some electrical appliances in the bag. The confrontation of the passengers with the seized items and investigations revealed that the bag belonged to a minor who had brought it from Iraq upon a request from a person living there, and who is wanted in a number of terrorist cases,” he said.

The bag was to be delivered to a person in Sitra, a town south of the capital Manama, so that the equipment could be used in acts of terror, he added in a statement carried by the Bahrain News Agency (BNA).

“When questioned, the suspect admitted he had carried the bag from Iraq upon a request from a relative to hand it over to a person in Sitra known for rioting and involvement in terror acts, to use the items in explosions inside the kingdom,” Al Hamamdi said.

“The suspect said his relative had informed him about the items inside the bag and asked him not to admit anything if arrested. The prosecution charged the suspect with importing and acquiring explosive materials for terrorist purposes, and referred him to the juvenile court. The judge ordered his detention in the Minors Care Centre for one week and tasked the Social Care Unit with preparing a social report on him,” he said.

The King Fahd Causeway, opened on November 26, 1986, is Bahrain’s only terrestrial link with neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

Its use peaks during weekends when passengers from Bahrain drive into Saudi Arabia and beyond and vehicles from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, enter the island kingdom.

On February 28, the causeway achieved a milestone when 100,643 people crossed it, the highest one-day figure since it was opened.

On that day, 62,266 used the causeway to depart from Bahrain and 38,377 to arrive.

Around 80 per cent of the people who arrive in Bahrain or leave the kingdom now use the causeway.