Kaohsiung Wonderland festival not blown up

Taipei, Feb. 7 (CNA) A social media comment threatening to blow up the Kaohsiung Wonderland festival if a ransom of NT$40 million (US$1.27 million) was not paid appears to have been a hoax, police said Wednesday.

In a statement, police in Kaohsiung said they were investigating who was behind the threat, adding that the IP address of the commenter indicated that they were not in Taiwan.

According to police, a comment on the Facebook page of Kaohsiung Music Center said that a remote-control bomb had been left in the venue Tuesday afternoon.

The comment – which was later deleted – said that the bomb would be detonated if a NT$40 million (US$1.27 million) ransom was not received by 4 p.m. Tuesday, police said.

Police said they searched the area after being notified of the threat, adding that no bomb was found and no explosion followed.

Police said they had stepped up patrols around the area and were in close contact with workers at the music center.

Police added that the commenter – whose identity is currently unknown – would be investigated on suspicion of intimidating the public and obtaining benefits through extortion.

Kaohsiung Music Center is located next to Love River Bay, where two giant rubber ducks by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman are currency located as part of the Kaohsiung Wonderland festival.

The festival opened on Jan. 27 and has so far attracted more than 2 million visitors, according to the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau.