One of Sofia's main downtown intersections was sealed off for a while on Wednesday because of an abandoned suitcase, that turned out harmless in the end.
The "Pette Kyosheta" (Five Corners) intersection, where four of Sofia's main boulevards cross was closed after observant citizens noticed a suspicious suitcase, left at a tram stop. Police teams and a bomb squad were immediately dispatched to the scene, and started investigating the alarming luggage.
It turned out, however, that the suitcase only contained papers and belonged to an absent-minded man who quickly returned to claim it. Just when bomb squad members were about to launch a control blast, the suitcase's owner appeared apologizing for the trouble and panic he had caused.
The traffic in the area was restored in about an hour.