Security authorities in Minya, Upper Egypt, received a false warning that a bomb had been planted at Pope Antonius church.
Civil defense and bomb disposal experts arrived to the scene immediately. Police forces imposed tight security measures around the church before combing the site to verify the warning.
A security source said a tiny box full of nails was found, and that explosive detection instruments found no detonative substances in it. A police report about the incident has been filed.
The New Year's Eve bombing of a church in Alexandria has generated a host of unfounded rumors–about security threats and sectarian unrest–on the Egyptian street.
On Monday, false rumors spread via mobile-phone text message about the bombing of a Carrefour hypermarket in Cairo's Maadi district. Other rumors circulated that explosions had rocked the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh and the Nile Delta city of Bahteem.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
