LOC20:36
17:36 GMT
LONDON, Oct 29 (KUNA) -- A British airport was at the centre of an
international terrorism alert Friday after the discovery of a suspicious
package on a cargo flight travelling from Yemen to the US.
An area of East Midlands airport, central England, Britain's largest air
freight terminal was sealed off after investigators found a suspicious package
containing a toner cartridge on a United Parcel Service plane bound for
Chicago, police said.
Tests for explosives proved negative, but concerns remained that the nature
of the package meant it could be a test run for a bomb.
The FBI immediately ordered a search of other UPS planes arriving in the
US, including another flight via East Midlands airport.
Nothing was found on that plane, at Newark, in New Jersey, and it was
allowed to proceed.
Two other cargo flights, via Paris and Cologne, were grounded at
Philadelphia and the bomb squad was called out to search a UPS cargo lorry in
New York.
The Transportation and Security Administration said authorities were acting
"out of an abundance of caution".
"The planes were moved to a remote location where they are being met by law
enforcement officials and swept," the TSA said.
Police in the UK said East Midlands airport, near Nottingham, was
continuing to operate.
Earlier, it was reported that the plane had been stopped in London.
The Department for Transport here said it was unaware of any incident in
London, but knew about the East Midlands incident.
Police evacuated a distribution centre at the airport after the package was
discovered in the early hours of this morning. Officers announced that there
was no threat shortly before 9am GMT, but put cordons back up again at about
13 hours GMT.
"The package is being re-examined as a precaution and, as such, the cordons
that were originally put in place have been reinstated," a police spokeswoman
said.
"This has meant that a freight distribution building and a number of
offices have been closed together with internal airport roads Beverley Road
and Argosy Road.
"The airport continues to operate as normal and has been throughout. The
safety of the public and emergency personnel remains our priority, and we are
working closely with the airport and the emergency services." (pickup
previous).
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