A Qantas jet made an emergency landing in Japan early on Sunday after what was most probably a false smoke alarm, and nine people were injured when they used chutes to escape, police and the airline said. The Perth-bound Airbus A330, carrying 178 passengers and 13 crew, landed in the central Japanese city of Osaka at about1 a.m. local time, shortly after leaving Tokyo, Qantas said .

?Nine people were taken away by ambulance. They were hurt when they tried to escape using (emergency) chutes?, a police official in Osaka reported.

Early inspections of the aircraft had shown no sign of smoke or fire and the airline believed the incident was due to a faulty reading from a sensor in the cargo hold. ?There?s been no sign of fire or smoke at all?, Qantas spokesman said. Police were planning to inspect the plane to check whether a fire had actually broken out on the plane, he said.