Panic at Israeli airport as American tourist tried to take unexploded shell 'souvenir'

A stampede broke out at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv when American tourists tried to take an unexploded shell through security as a ‘souvenir’, local media reports.

According to the report, passengers in the departure lounge at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv rushed for the exits after staff slammed the alarm.

When the American tourists appeared with the hefty undetonated shell piece at security, airport guards thought the family may be terrorists and launched an emergency evacuation.

Despite urging passengers to leave the terminal ‘slowly’, the alarm prompted a melee, in which hundreds sprinted in all directions.

An injured eyewitness said: ‘There was a lot of shouting. I just felt that I had to run for my life.

And finally this was what (would you believe) an American family recently visiting the Golan Heights in the north of Israel brought to the airport in Tel Aviv. pic.twitter.com/1uK9vBR24D

— James J. Marlow (@James_J_Marlow) April 28, 2022

The report said the family boarded their flight home as normal, but had to leave the shell behind.

OPINION: American Arabs and the visa waiver programme