A young woman apparently trapped by a booby-trapped bomb strapped to her body has been safely freed by an explosives squad in Australia after a 10-hour ordeal.
Police in Sydney said they still do not know whether the device is an explosive but are looking for the man who planted it in the woman's home in the upmarket suburb before leaving left a ransom note and fleeing.
Police said they were called to the house on Burrawong Avenue in Mosman by the 18-year-old Madeleine Pulver at about 2.30pm (5.30am Irish time). The teenager's father is the high-profile business executive William Pulver.
Police kept a tight lid on information throughout the incident, and while New South Wales assistant police commissioner Mark Murdoch. He said the suspicious device was found near the girl, he refused to confirm reports it had been strapped to her body.
Local media reported that the extortionist had told the girl the device was a bomb, which he could trigger by remote control, and he had also attached a microphone enabling him to hear what she was saying.
The device was still intact on the girl's release, Mr Murdoch said. She was doing well and was with her parents, he said.
"She's good - she's been kept in a very uncomfortable position," Mr Murdoch said. "She has been and will be uncomfortable for a little while to come."
He said it was "far too early to say" whether the device was part of an extortion attempt, and refused to comment on a report that a note had been left alongside it. He said police had no ideas as to a motive.
"We want to get our hands on who's done this," said Mr Murdoch. "The family are at a loss to explain this. You would hardly think that someone would go to this much trouble if there wasn't a motive behind it."
The device was "very elaborate, very sophisticated", he said. "The manner in which it was located in proximity to the young lady was such that it has taken us the better part of 10 hours to secure her release."
Mr Murdoch said the state police consulted with Australia's federal police agency and the British military during the ordeal.
"We have left absolutely no stone unturned to make sure that we met our objective - and that objective always was the safety of the young lady," he said.
Police evacuated the area surrounding the house in the suburb of Mosman, one of the city's plushest districts with views of Sydney Harbour.
Agencies