Thiruvananthapuram, March 21 (IANS) A security alert was sounded at the airport here Sunday morning after a suspected explosive was found in the cargo compartment of a Kingfisher flight that arrived from Bangalore, police said.

The Kingfisher flight from Bangalore arrived at 8.25 a.m. and a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official found the suspected explosive, which is the size of a cricket ball, wrapped in a newspaper, said City Police Commissioner M.R. Ajith Kumar.

'This was found in the cargo compartment and the official immediately took it up. It is a suspected explosive and investigations are on,' Kumar told reporters here.

The aircraft has been cordoned off and security officials have reached the site, he said.

'We are investigating into how this happened. Certainly this is a security lapse. The suspected explosive is now in the possession of experts and investigations will reveal what exactly it is,' Kumar added.