ADD AIRPORT RESPONSE: Bungling airport chiefs admit rat and otter were seen on security checks but guards waved them through

Bungling airport chiefs today admitted that security staff noticed live animals in a passenger's hand luggage - but waved through the bags on the conveyor belt.

The rat and otter were among a haul of 28 star turtles, a snake, a marmot, and other rodents that were in an x-ray of the bag when it was checked at the notoriously corrupt Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday October 4.