Gatwick terminal reopens after security threat
Gatwick airport has reopened one of its terminals following a security alert that forced it to be evacuated. This caused thousands of people’s travel plans to be disrupted. Police deployed an explosives disposal team to deal with “a suspected prohibited item” that was found in luggage at the south terminal on Friday, 15th November.
“The earlier security alert has now been resolved and cleared by police,” Gatwick said in a statement. “The South Terminal is reopening to staff and will be open to passengers shortly.”
Some flights were cancelled while others were delayed. Passengers were told to get in touch their airlines for any updates on their flight. In videos on social media, thousands of passengers were seen outside the terminal and surrounding area after the terminal shut down for a number of hours. Emergency foil blankets were distributed to some passengers who were waiting in the cold.
Over 600 flights due to land or take off from Gatwick were affected. That accounts to over 121,000 passenger seats, aviation analytics firm Cirium data found.
In a separate incident on Friday, police revealed that they carried out a controlled explosion after a “suspicious package” was discovered outside the American embassy. The Metropolitan police conducted the explosion after setting up cordons close to the Nine Elms site.
“We can confirm that the ‘loud bang’ reported in the area a short time ago was a controlled explosion carried out by officers,” police said in a post on X. “Enquiries are still ongoing and cordons will remain in place for the time being.”
The embassy said that local authorities were investigating the “suspicious package” outside its building, adding that police had closed a road nearby “out of an abundance of caution”.
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