Just hours after bomb and gun attacks in the French capital that killed over 120, the north terminal of London’s Gatwick airport was evacuated by police over a potential terror scare.
Thousands of passengers have been left stranded at London Gatwick after police moved in to deal with what is being called a suspicious package at the north terminal. A police spokesman said the force was called in this morning to deal with “suspicious actions by a man who discarded an item at the airport”.
Although it is not clear exactly what the nature of the incident is at this stage, an army bomb disposal team has arrived at the airport. A hand grenade, possibly similar to the kind used to execute hostages at the Bataclan arena in Paris last night may have been found, according to unconfirmed reports.
Geography professor Tim Unwin was one of the passengers caught up in the evacuation and has been live-tweeting his experience, showing pictures of travellers caught out in the rain, being put into “lockdown”, and moved into an airport hotel to get out of the weather.
#gatwick_airport North Terminal evacuation in the rain pic.twitter.com/8aeeP8VWJF
— Tim Unwin (@TimUnwin) November 14, 2015
Police spokesman Detective Superintendent Nick May gave a statement on the situation, remarking: ‘At this time, we are investigating the circumstances of the incident and it is too early to say what the item may be. However, given the events in Paris on Friday evening, there is heightened awareness around any such incident and it is best that we treat the matter in all seriousness.
“We are aware that there is concern about what has happened in France, but the general threat level remains the same and people should be aware as usual of anyone acting suspiciously”.
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