Riyadh: A false bomb scare phoned into a bank office forced the evacuation on Wednesday of the 99-floor Kingdom Centre, Saudi Arabia's tallest skyscraper, a security official said.
The threat warning that a bomb was hidden in a vehicle was phoned into a branch of Samba Bank in the centre late afternoon as offices were closing on the last day of the Saudi workweek, said Interior Ministry spokesman General Mansour al-Turki.
"It was a false threat," he said.
The Kingdom complex, the headquarters of flamboyant tycoon Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holdings group, houses offices, a luxury hotel and an upmarket three-storey shopping centre which was just getting busy when the order to evacuate came around 1400 GMT.
A staff member at the entrance said that the building, which is 311-metres, was evacuated in "search for something”.
A witness said she saw armed security men rushing into the building as she and other civilians were being asked to exit.
Armed security men cordoned off the outside of tower and security alerts were sent by businesses and embassies around the city warning employees to stay clear of the area.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, January 21, 2010, 09:52