Two suspicious packages caused alarm this Friday in London, a few hours apart. The tension remained until early in the afternoon, when the authorities considered both incidents resolved, which turned out to be a false alarm.
Gatwick airport, the second most important in the United Kingdom, has been evacuated and has paralyzed its activities in the southern terminal due to a “security incident.” “A large portion of the southern terminal has been evacuated as a precaution, while we continue to investigate this security incident. Passengers will not be able to access the terminal during this time,” said an airport spokesperson.
The Sussex police, who have taken charge of the operation, claim that they were called at 08:20 in the morning (09:20, Spanish peninsular time), after a “suspicious prohibited object was located inside the luggage”, according to the newspaper Daily Mail.
“As a precaution, we have deployed a bomb squad at the airport. This has caused notable disruption, and some of the roads surrounding the southern terminal have been cut. “We recommend that citizens avoid that area as much as possible,” the police authorities requested in a statement.
The railway services that serve Gatwick have also announced that they will not stop at their facilities until at least two in the afternoon (three in the afternoon, Spanish peninsular time).
The affected passengers have been transferred by bus throughout the morning to the north terminal, but the entire response operation to the incident has caused serious delays in many of the scheduled flights and in the logistics of the airport.
The Cirium air statistics website states that there were 316 flights scheduled to take off this Friday from Gatwick, along with a total of 318 landings. A potential of more than 120,000 passengers, many of whom have been affected by the incident.
At around three in the afternoon (four in Spanish peninsular time), the airport authorities considered the incident resolved and the passengers were able to return to the south terminal. “The early morning security alert has been resolved and dismissed by the police. The South Terminal has reopened its doors to staff and will soon allow passenger access,” Gatwick said.
A few hours earlier, the London Metropolitan Police had reported the existence of another suspicious package near the United States Embassy building, near the Nine Elms metro station in the Battersea neighborhood, south of the Thames, an area of strong urban growth in recent years. The police reported around 10 a.m. (11 a.m. Spanish time) that they carried out a controlled explosion on the package. Finally, in the early hours of the afternoon, the police assured that the first indications were that it was a deceptive object. The diplomatic legation published on its X social network account: “The United States Embassy has returned to normal operations, except that all public appointments… scheduled for November 22 have been canceled.”
Neither incident has been related, in principle, to possible terrorist activities.
