Games threat forces Air China flight back to Japan

TOKYO (Reuters) - An Air China flight from central Japan turned back on Friday after the airline received a bomb threat in an email that also said the Beijing Olympic Games site would be attacked, Japanese police and media said.

Japanese media said the e-mail, written in Japanese, included a threat to bring the flight to Chongqing down on the site of the Olympics in Beijing, where the opening ceremony was due to be staged later on Friday.

Air China flight CA 406 landed safely at Central Japan International Airport around 3 a.m. EDT, airport police said.

Media reported the 71 people, including passengers and employees, were evacuated safely and police were checking the plane, but so far no suspicious objects had been found.

Japan's transport ministry said five Air China flights set to leave Japan on Friday were delayed by the threat.

One of them had since flown out from Fukuoka airport in southern Japan after it was inspected, said Fumio Yasukawa, an official at the transport ministry.

The remaining four, including the plane that turned back, were being checked by police, he added.

(Reporting by Yoko Kubota and Naoto Okamura; Editing by Jerry Norton)