Airport Terminal Reopened After Evacuation
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) – Terminal 2 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was closed and evacuated Sunday afternoon due to a suspicious device.
Airport spokeswoman Melissa Scovronski says officials with the Transportation Security Administration found a suspicious device in a checked bag at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
She did not have details on the nature of the device. The Bloomington Police Department's bomb squad took the object from the airport and continued to investigate.
Officials determined the device was in baggage that belonged to a woman — airport police are questioning her. She was not arrested.
Scovronski didn't have details on the woman, but said she was a passenger on a flight that was delayed by the evacuation.
The Humphrey Terminal was reopened around 6:30 p.m.
Police were not allowing new people into the terminal, and everyone was redirected to the parking lot. Drivers were not allowed to drop off or pick up passengers at the terminal.
Roads into the airport were blocked, as was the Light Rail Transit line.
Anna Ekert says her flight from Atlanta arrived when the evacuation was underway. She and dozens of others waited on the tarmac for more than an hour.
"They told us it was a suspicious bag that was at the airport, and the airport was closed and we weren't allowed. They were evacuating the airport...we weren't allowed to get off the plane, so we sat there on the plane and ate crackers and water," said Ekert.
No one is in custody at this time, and there are no reported injuries.
Terminal 2 was also evacuated about a month ago when another checked bag contained items that appeared suspicious. Officials determined the PVC pipes and wires in that piece of luggage was part of a water filtration device. No criminal charges were filed in that incident, during which a few hundred people were briefly evacuated.
(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
