A hospital in Mentakab, Pahang, was thrown into chaos for four hours today, evacuating scores of patients and cancelling surgery, after a terrorist bomb threat, the official Bernama news agency reported.

A man claiming to be a member of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah terror network called the police to say he had planted a bomb at the hospital, police spokesman Mohamad Zabidin Mahmod told the agency.

Operations rescheduled

A total of 171 patients were evacuated to nearby schools and halls and operations had to be rescheduled, Pahang health director Sarah Yaacob said.

Police called in two bomb disposal units, sniffer-dog teams, the Fire and Rescue Department and the Civil Defence Department for a four-hour search before giving the all-clear, Bernama said.

The JI group is responsible for a series of bomb attacks, including the Bali blast in Indonesia in 2002 which killed more than 200 people. - AFP