Man charged after dynamite joke at Miami airport

MIAMI – A concourse at Miami International Airport was partially evacuated after a man allegedly joked that he had dynamite in his luggage.

Miami-Dade police say 63-year-old Alejandro Hurtado, of Guatemala, made the remark Monday when a TACA Airlines ticket agent asked if he was carrying any hazardous materials.

Police said that when the agent told him he was calling police, Hurtado said he was only joking.

Bomb squad officers responded and searched Hurtado’s bag but found no explosives. Concourse J was partially evacuated. Hurtado was taken into custody and charged with falsely reporting a bomb at an airport.

Airport officials said the investigation delayed one outgoing Avianca Airlines flight by an hour.

Some arriving international flights were also delayed because of the evacuation.