Bagpipes Provoked Olympic Alarm
29/08/2008 06:37
Mr Aitken got into
the stadium days after the security alarm
A bagpipe player sparked a security alert at the Olympics - after Chinese police mistook his musical instrument for "some kind of weapon".
Charity walker Andrew Aitken, from Galashiels, arrived in Beijing on the same day as the opening ceremony.
He decided to warm-up his pipes near the stadium, not realising he was close to a major electricity station.
A police car pulled up and Mr Aitken said it was only thanks to a passing tourist guide that he avoided arrest.
The Borders piper was in China to carry out a sponsored walk along the Great Wall to raise funds for the National Deaf Children's Society.
Details here.
SINC SAYS:
There is a haunting beauty to the dirge of the pipes. Not that I’m Scottish or anything.