Man arrested, no explosives found at LA airport

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A man was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday after claiming to have a bomb in his backpack but no explosives were found, officials said.

"A male individual on the public side of the international terminal of Los Angeles International Airport claimed to have explosive materials in his backpack," the U.S. Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) said in a statement.

The TSA said that the man was arrested and that an unattended bag was found near a ticket counter in the international terminal.

"Out of an abundance of caution a perimeter was established" and the Los Angeles police bomb squad was called in, the TSA added.

Police tried to blow up the bag and a robot was brought in to examine it but no explosives were found inside, airport officials said.

An airport spokesman said flights were not affected by the incident and the international terminal was not evacuated, but traffic going in and out of the terminal was blocked for more than an hour.

No details were available on the identity of the man or his motive.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)