Heathrow Terminal 2 evacuated after police investigate suspicious item

Rebecca Speare-Cole2 October 2020

Passengers were evacuated from an area of Heathrow Airport's Terminal 2 on Friday after a "suspicious item" was found.

The Metropolitan Police said officers were called to the scene but stood down shortly afterwards when it became clear the incident was a false alarm.

It comes as hundreds of people were pictured leaving the terminal building as police vehicles and sniffer dogs descended on the airport.

Footage on social media showed travellers with trolleys and suitcases walking outside into the rain.

One person wrote on Twitter: "Some kind of security alert at Heathrow Terminal 2- not sure at this point what’s happening but passengers moved outside."

A second said: "Search operations underway @HeathrowAirport terminal 2 due to security alert all passengers and staff evacuated sniffer dogs in duty as well."

A third wrote: "Some kind of security alert at Heathrow Terminal 2- not sure at this point what’s happening but passengers moved outside."

A Heathrow spokesperson said: “Our teams are working with the Police in response to a potentially suspicious item identified at Terminal 2.

"As a precaution, passengers have been temporarily moved away from the area.

"We apologise to any passengers inconvenienced while the matter is investigated.”

Later, the airport said in a statement: "Earlier today, our teams responded alongside Police to reports of a potentially suspicious item at Terminal 2.

"The item has been investigated and does not pose a safety risk. We thank those passengers whose journeys were temporarily disrupted for their patience, and can confirm that our operations are now back to normal."

The Metropolitan Police earlier confirmed they had been called to reports of a suspicious item.

In a statement to the Mirror, they said: "Police were called to Terminal 2, Heathrow, at 12.11hrs on Friday, 2 October to reports of a suspicious item.

"The item is currently being investigated. The area is currently being evacuated as a precaution."

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