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Police are investigating possible links between two bomb threats in two days, after a sinister phone call shut down a Wollongong street on Tuesday.
Wollongong police Inspector Dan Richardson said an accommodation service on Swan Street, Wollongong, received ‘‘a short message’’ about 11.20am saying there was a bomb in the building.
Insp Richardson said emergency services were concerned a device may have been mailed to the premises, as part of a large amount of Christmas goods delivered on Tuesday morning.
Police, fire and ambulance crews raced to the scene, cordoning off Swan Street and adjacent Finlayson Street between Kenny and Auburn streets.
More than 100 people were evacuated from nearby businesses and homes as police awaited the arrival of specialist bomb squad units. Coniston Public School was also placed in lockdown.
Trent Peime, manager of a Swan Street automotive shop, was ordered to leave by police around noon.
‘‘We’re not really worried about it – it’s probably just some stupid kids getting on the bandwagon from yesterday [siege in Sydney CBD],’’ he said.
Fire rescue and police rescue units entered the threatened premises before 1pm, but after an extensive search yielded no explosive, the streets were reopened to traffic.
‘‘We conducted a significant search, and found no evidence of explosives,’’ Insp Richardson said.
He said police found no sign of forced entry into the premises, and the search focused on a ‘‘significant mail delivery’’ that arrived on Tuesday.
Residents and workers returned, and traffic reverted to normal around 1.15pm.
Insp Richardson said another hoax bomb threat in Wollongong had been received by police on Monday. He said a police investigation into links between the two incidents had ‘‘strong leads’’.