Bergen County Exec: Suspicious Packages Sent To Several NJ Hotels Contained Corn Starch
CARLSTADT, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Two days before the Super Bowl will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., the FBI and Hazmat crews responded to suspicious packages sent to several hotels in the area.
The packages contained white powder which turned out to be corn starch, Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan told 1010 WINS.
Someone at an Econo Lodge in Carlstadt found the substance in an envelope, and similar mailings arrived at the Homestead Inn in East Rutherford and a Renaissance Inn in Rutherford, Carlstadt Police Det. John Cleary said.
Bergen County Exec: Suspicious Packages Sent To Several NJ Hotels Contained Corn Starch
Investigators intercepted additional envelopes from a mail truck before it reached a Holiday Inn Express and Hampton Inn in Carlstadt, Cleary said.
The Joint Terrorism Task Force and hazard materials units responded to the locations to investigate further, New Jersey State Police and the FBI said in a statement.
"The locations have been secured and initial field screening on the first samples has shown the substance to be within normal values. Additional testing is being conducted. The situation is being thoroughly investigated," the statement read.
Hackensack University Medical Center received a number of people for evaluation because they came in contact with the letters, but a hospital spokeswoman said there were no reported illnesses or injuries.
Additionally, a letter with suspicious powder addressed to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani was received at 10:30 a.m. at a building on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, CBS reported.
Initial tests showed no threat from the white powder found in the Giuliani letter.
Eight mailroom workers at Giuliani's consulting firm near Rockefeller Center underwent decontamination as a precaution.
Super Bowl fans staying at the hotels told CBS 2's Christine Sloan that it appeared the situation was completely under control while Hazmat crews investigated.
"It's all part of the game isn't it? You know, people - somebody wants attention, somebody's gonna do something like that," said visitor Ramona DeSalvo.
None of the hotel guests were evacuated during the investigation, Sloan reported.
Investigators would not comment on any potential suspects or motives behind the incident.
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