ALERT: London City Airport Evacuated
ALERT: London City Airport Evacuated
London City Airport has been evacuated due to a possible fire. Passengers and staff were directed out of
the terminal building and onto the tarmac and runway.
According to the UK’s Daily Mail:
London City Airport has been dramatically evacuated this afternoon as the capital
remains on high alert following the terror alert at a tube station just 24 hours ago.
Hundreds of passengers and staff were ordered to leave the terminal building midafternoon
and no flights were able to depart and land following reports of a fire.
Pictures from the scene show crowds gathering on the tarmac and the runway.
An airport spokesman could not confirm whether a fire had been discovered. She said an
alarm was activated at around 4.30 pm. The incident remains ongoing.
The incident comes just 24 hours after North Greenwich Tube Station in the capital was
dramatically closed to the public following a ‘terror-related incident’.
A suspicious package was exploded by the bomb squad as counter-terror after
passengers were evacuated at about 11am and a huge section of the Jubilee line was
suspended. The station was closed for more than six hours and no trains were running
between Stratford and Canary Wharf in East London until about 3.15pm.
A 19-year-old man was Tasered and arrested under the Terrorism Act today in
connection with the incident.
Security has been ramped up on London’s public transport network since with more
officers, including armed police, on patrol at travel hubs and high visibility patrols.
The UK’s Mirror also reports:
A spokesman for City Airport confirmed that the terminal had been evacuated after
reports of a fire.
He told the Evening Standard: “The terminal was evacuated after a fire alert was raised
in line with normal procedure.
“It is too early to establish a cause.”
London Fire Brigade said three fire engines had been sent to the scene.
The alert comes just a day after a 19-year-old teenager was arrested under Terrorism Act
after a controlled explosion at nearby North Greenwich tube station, which is less than
six miles away from the airport.