Australian ‘neck bomb’ teenager safe

Madleine Pulver was freed after 10 hours during which she had forced to wear a collar bomb.

Forensic experts are to examine the device, which is said still to be live. New South Wales Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch described it as “very elaborate”.

Experts from the New South Wales bomb squad spent several hours examining it while it remained secured around Ms Pulver’s neck, according to one report. It said the British military were also involved in analysis of the object.

Police have not revealed details of any ransom demand in connection with the incident.

The it began at 2.40pm New South Wales time when the female called police to report the discovery of a suspicious device at a mansion in the prosperous Sydney suburb.

It is not clear how the device came to be strapped to the teenager, but it is thought it was place around her neck with a ransom note attached, addressed to her parents.

Police are treating the case as an extortion attempt, according to reports. The woman’s parents were not allowed to speak to their daughter during the ordeal.

An earlier statement posted on the New South Wales Police Force Facebook page stated that “highly skilled investigators have been working behind the scenes since the incident was first reported”.

Police established a perimeter around the house on Burrawong Avenue. The road includes some of Sydney’s richest residents.