Friday, September 23, 2005

UK - Manchester airport bomb alert


A man of 'Asian appearance' has been arrested by police at Manchester airport in northern England in connection with a suspect device. A struggle is said to have occurred and a taser gun was used to subdue a man "acting suspiciously" on the apron near stand 26. Two terminals have been closed after the suspect package was found near stand 26, between terminals 1 & 2, according to ITN. The BBC correspondent, Kevin Bocquet, who had viewed the army bomb disposal team explode the suspect package was cut off in mid flow as he made a live report by telephone. Before being moved on by police he had described a "dull thud" as a bomb disposal robot initiated a controlled explosion. "A man in army uniform then approached the suitcase," he said, but before the reporter could relay further details the police moved in and insisted he terminate the call. Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and parts of terminals 1 and 2 have been evacuated. The media is describing the situation as "confused" and it is not clear whether the incident is over. Further reports to the BBC in the last few minutes suggest that "passengers report to the airport as normal".
[10:25 GMT 23/09/2005]

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