Chennai: Schools in the city and southern suburbs were abuzz on Tuesday as a bomb threat, which later turned out to be a hoax, to a school, went viral on social media. As phones across the city flashed the rumour, many parents panicked and rushed to their children’s schools to pick them up. “Flash news on television channels along with posts on social media frightened me,” admitted a parent of Tambaram. “I took leave and rushed to my child’s school at Velachery.”
It all began at 8.51 am when the Chennai city police control room received an anonymous call regarding a bomb in St. Joseph school. The confusion began with the fact that there are three schools in the area with the same name.
The city’s Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) was the first to be activated. They were recalled when it was realised that St Joseph Matriculation Higher Secondary School was at Kovalam and fell in the jurisdiction of Kancheepuram district police, who eventually did a sweep of the campus and declared the threat a hoax.
Meanwhile, panic prevailed in two other schools which were also named after St Joseph and located at Perungudi and Neelankarai. Rumour mills were working overtime now and the panic from the three schools spread to many institutions in the southern suburbs and city’s interior parts.
Around noon, rumours of a bomb blast at Holy Angels girls high school aggravated the situation. A government school teacher at Anakaputhur whose child studies in the school, broke down and attempts to convince her otherwise became a Herculean task.
Many parents immediately rushed to pick up their children from school. Authorities of Holy Angels girls school at Chromepet said they were forced to declare holiday from afternoon.
The confusion also led to a major traffic congestion on GST Road and Velachery main road. “Many parents whose office is away from the city were worried and felt helpless. Strict action should be taken against the rumour-monger” added another parent, V. Pramila.
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