Bomb squad destroy bag in airport station drama
THE bomb squad destroyed a bag at Manchester Airport railway station after reports of a suspicious package.
The airport’s travel interchange and surrounding buildings were evacuated during the drama yesterday.
Police said the bag did not contain a ‘viable device’ and that a man detained at the scene was ‘taken to hospital for assessment.’
Chief Inspector Andy Sutcliffe, of GMP’s Manchester Airport team, said: “I appreciate that reports of (the) incident may have caused some concern but I can confirm that the matter has now been safely resolved and the area is returning to normal.
“Public safety is our top priority so a controlled explosion of a bag was carried out as a precaution before an inspection of the contents confirmed that there was no viable device or components inside
“I want to stress that there is no evidence to suggest that this incident was terrorism related and I want to thank members of the public for their patience and support as we responded.”
The incident affected bus and Metrolink services but flights were not delayed. Around 100 passengers who were waiting for transport home were ushered into the airport terminal.
Shortly before 7.05am police responded to reports of a naked man behaving erratically close to the transport interchange.
Witness Caroline Watson, a coach driver, told the M.E.N.: “The guy was running around with his arms waving in the air, going up and down. He was running back and forth.
“He was going in and out of the terminus.
“He had no clothing on whatsover. It is not what you expect to see at 6.10am on a Monday morning.”
There were reports of long queues and heavy traffic on the A555 Ringway Road West in Wythenshawe.
Reports on social media claimed ‘all traffic to and from the airport’ was jammed, with one poster on Twitter saying people were ‘walking towards Wythenshawe.’