Explosives are lost in luggage

French bomb squad officers have lost a bag of plastic explosive planted in a passenger's suitcase as part of a training exercise for their sniffer dogs. In a "momentary loss of surveillance", officers at Charles de Gaulle airport lost sight of the bag on an internal conveyor belt carrying luggage from check-in to planes.

They do not know the ultimate destination of the 100-150g package, which could have made it onto one of up to 90 flights - some domestic, but others in the United States, Brazil or Japan.

The explosive are harmless without detonators, said police spokesman Pierre Bouquin. To be effective, he said, "our dogs must be trained in the most realistic situation possible."