Police have confirmed that the suspected bomb attached to 18-year-old Sydney schoolgirl Madeleine Pulver, contained no explosives. The hunt is now on for whoever carried out the attack.
Sydney schoolgirl Madaleine Pulver has been released from hospital this morning, as she begins her recovery from her horrifying ordeal in which she was strapped to a bomb for ten hours.
The wealthy family of an 18-year-old Sydney girl attached for ten hours to what was thought to be a bomb have no idea why she was targeted, police say.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Police were called by Madeleine to the family's Mosman home about 2.30pm (AEST) on Wednesday and found her inside alone, attached to the device.
There are reports she was collared to the "bomb".
A tense ten hours ensued, as police negotiators and bomb disposal experts worked to defuse the situation.
Nearby properties were evacuated and roads were closed off as the extensive operation, involving the bomb squad, rescue squad, State Emergency Services, fire crews and paramedics got underway.
The device was eventually released, still intact, from the girl shortly before midnight on Wednesday and she was reunited with her parents.
Speaking to reporters shortly afterwards, Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch said it was still too early to tell if the device was explosive.
"It's taken us ten hours to get to grips with," he said, describing the device as "very elaborate, sophisticated".
There was still no evidence as to a motive for the attack and police had had no contact with whoever put the device in place, he said.
"We want to get our hands on who has done this and pretty smartly," he said, adding the girl had had some interaction with her attacker and had given "a lot of information" to police.
Mr Murdoch said the situation was "very very difficult" for the girl, who was not allowed to speak to her parents throughout the ordeal for operational reasons.
She is understood to be a Year 12 student at a nearby private school.
Two police negotiators stayed with her throughout the ordeal, keeping her calm, warm and fed, as two bomb disposal technicians worked on the device.
"She's been kept in a very uncomfortable position for in excess of ten hours, so she has been and will be uncomfortable for some days to come. But she's in good hands, she's with mum and dad, who are the most important people to be with," Mr Murdoch said.
It was far too early to say whether the attack had been an extortion attempt, he said.
"Certainly the family are at a loss to explain this, but you wouldn't expect someone would go to this much trouble if there wasn't a motive behind it," he said.
"The family have endured something no one needs to endure...but they have held up remarkably well," he added.
The investigation was being led by the State Crime Command's robbery and serious crime squad, which deals with extortion and several other agencies, including the British military were asked for advice on the device.
"This is an unusual situation for NSW and Australia, I'm not aware of anything like this happening in the country before," he said.
