London — Police in London carried out a controlled explosion Friday after finding a suspicious package near the U.S. Embassy in the British capital. They blocked off roads near the embassy compound, which sits on the south side of the Thames river in London’s Nine Elms neighborhood.
“We can confirm that the ‘loud bang’ reported in the area a short time ago was a controlled explosion carried out by officers,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement posted online.
The embassy said in its own social media post that police had closed a road near the building out of “an abundance of caution.”
Mina Kim/REUTERS
Later Friday, the embassy said in a new statement that the facility was “back to normal business operations,” but that all public appointments were cancelled for the remainder of the day, with people scheduled to renew passports and attend other appointments told to await emails to reschedule.
“Local authorities investigated and cleared a suspicious package outside the Embassy,” the statement said, adding its thanks to London’s police “for your swift action, and thanks to all visitors for your cooperation and patience at this time.”
The U.S. Embassy in London opened in its new location just outside the center of the city at the beginning of 2018. It sits on a sprawling campus relatively far from major public roads and is surrounded by security fortifications.
Former U.K. counterterrorism coordinator Nick Aldworth told CBS News on Friday that the U.S. embassy building is “one of the most secure locations in London.”
AP Television
“It’s a purpose-built embassy,” he said, which gave the compound “the benefit of being constructed with built-in environmental protective measures” such as earth berms and other physical features, putting it “at the top end of design and location for protecting it from terrorism incidents.”
Not long after the alert was raised at the embassy, a similar situation played out at Gatwick Airport, just south of London, with a suspected prohibited item found in someone’s luggage prompting the closure of a terminal.
“The South Terminal has been evacuated as a precaution while we continue to investigate a security incident,” the Gatwick press office told CBS News. “Passengers will not be able to enter the South Terminal while this is ongoing. Safety and security of our passengers and staff remains our top priority. We are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
The Sussex Police said in a statement that an explosives ordnance team was deployed to investigate the item, “as a precaution,” but after a couple hours the airport issued an all-clear.
“The earlier security alert has now been resolved and cleared by police,” Gatwick Airport said in a statement posted on social media. “The South Terminal is reopening to staff and will be open to passengers shortly. Trains will also start calling at Gatwick Airport once the terminal is fully reopened. We would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding.”
