MOSMAN, Australia, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Police spent 10 hours working to free a teenage girl Wednesday from a potentially explosive device strapped to her neck in a Sydney-area home, officials said.
Police said the 18-year-old was separated from the device -- reportedly attached by a man who entered the house in the tony suburb of Mosman -- and reunited with her parents, the Australia Broadcasting Corp. reported.
During the extraction operation, police were tight-lipped about the possibility that the device was a collar bomb, saying only the situation was "very serious and sensitive" and the teen "can't get away" from the device.
The police treated the package as "live," said assistant Police Commissioner Mark Murdoch said earlier.
Earlier reports indicated the device was placed on the woman's neck by a man. Reports also indicated the man left a note in what is suspected to be an extortion attempt.
Police blocked off the area around the house, evacuated some homes and urged people in the upscale suburb to stay clear from the area.
