Missed Cellphone Calls as Bomb Triggers
What is it with this week? I can’t turn around without seeing another dumb movie-plot threat:
A Thai minister has claimed that by returning missed calls on their cell phones people from the Muslim-majority southern provinces could unintentionally trigger bombs set by Islamic militants.
Thai authorities have begun tracing cell phone calls in a bid to track down suspects who use mobiles to detonate bombs across three provinces along the Malaysian border.
But the minister for information and communication warned that militants could try to foil the two-week-old cell phone registry by calling a random number, hanging up and then wiring the handset to a bomb.
If someone returned to the call, the bomb would blow up and authorities would trace the call to an innocent person, Sora-at Klinpratum told reporters.
Joseph • November 29, 2005 10:15 AM
This just in: Authorities warn the public that buying soda may trigger a bomb.
It may have been possible for a bomb to be wired to the following systems, so the public is warned never to use them:
Soda machines, Red Box movie rental systems, parking meters, pay phones, and doorbells.
Did anyone ever think “Maybe the random phone guy will call back before I am far enough away from the bomb?” I would be sure to call someone on vacation that isn’t going to return the call for a while.