Police seal off student flats after bomb scare

DETECTIVES were yesterday continuing their investigations into an incident at a student halls of residence which sparked a bomb scare in Aberdeen.

A student at the Aberdeen University Hillhead halls, whose behaviour was said to have been causing concern to the university authorities, was detained under the Mental Health Act on Saturday night, after Grampian Police were called to the complex in the Old Aberdeen area.

It was thought he was in his twenties and from London.

A total of 35 students who live in the Esslemont block were evacuated from their flats on Sunday morning after a Royal Navy bomb disposal team was called to the scene as a precautionary measures when suspicious chemicals were found at the halls in Don Street, close to Seaton Park.

Grampian Police yesterday refused to give any details about its ongoing investigation, but the university was rife with rumours over allegations that a room at the halls was being used to manufacture illegal drugs or an illegal bomb.

Students complained about the lack of information they were being given.

It is understood that the bomb disposal experts declared the building safe after a detailed examination of the Esslemont block, the residential block where the detained student lived. But the building remained cordoned off yesterday as forensic experts examined the building and Grampian Police inquiries continued at the scene.

An Aberdeen University spokeswoman said: "One of our students was behaving in a way that was causing concern and he has been taken into care. Students affected by the evacuation of the block at Hillhead Halls have been temporarily given alternative accommodation to allow police to ensure that the area is safe for their return."