Italy police bust baggage thieves at Alitalia

Italian police have placed under house arrest 19 baggage handlers working for Italy's Alitalia airline and sub-contracted companies on charges of stealing suitcases from passengers, police said Friday. Forty-nine Alitalia employees working at Rome's Fiumicino airport and 37 others from sub-contracted companies at the Lamezia-Terme airport in Calabria in southern Italy were questioned as part of the enquiry into baggage theft. "Our security services have collaborated closely with the police. The passengers who lost their luggage have been reimbursed. We are the victims here," an Alitalia source told AFP. The police probe began in early 2012. Suspects found guilty of stealing suitcases face six-month prison terms.