A BOMB threat which turned out to be a hoax led to the partial evacuation yesterday of the hospital where victims of last Sunday's Port Arthur massacre are being treated.
Some 80 staff were evacuated from the Royal Hobart Hospital and 12 patients moved before a search of the hospital found no sign of explosives.
The hospital in the capital of the island state of Tasmania has been the target of threatening phone calls from people angry that staff are treating Mr Martin Bryant.
Mr Bryant (28) has been charged with one count of murder following Sunday's massacre in which 35 people died.
Mr Bryant had surgery on Thursday for burns. He is being kept in isolation and is under heavy police security. He is expected to remain in hospital for up to a week and has been remanded to appear in court on May 22nd.
Hospital sources said Mr Bryant and the 14 people wounded at Port Arthur who are still in hospital were not among those moved.
The bomb threat was made soon after the first funeral of the 35 victims was held yesterday.
Some 600 mourners turned out yesterday for the funeral. The obsequies of the bus driver, Mr Royce Thompson (59), were held just outside Hobart.
Elsewhere in Tasmania yesterday children wore yellow ribbons symbolising hope and encouragement at commemorative services in schools throughout the island.
On Sunday last a solitary gunman went on a killing rampage, first shooting dead 20 people in a Port Arthur cafe, then killing a further 12 people, before leaving three hostages dead in the burnt out remains of a cottage on Monday.
The shootings have led to nationwide calls for tougher gun laws, with the Australian Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, proposing a ban on all automatic and semi automatic firearms. However, political divisions threaten the introduction of such legislation.