The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Amazon depot evacuated after bomb threat
Internet delivery giant sent staff home after a suspicious package was found
A bomb scare forced internet giant Amazon to close its massive Dunfermline depot last night amid reports of a suspicious package.
Staff at the 93,000 square metre fulfilment centre were evacuated and sent home after a warehouse worker alerted bosses to a potential threat.
It is thought the package was discovered in the returns department.
The plant, which employs around 1,000 people, was closed and the night shift was called off as the Army’s explosive ordnance disposal unit investigated.
It was later declared a false alarm with no explosives found.
Amazon said it had closed the plant out of “an abundance of caution”.
Witnesses spoke of seeing bomb squad and police vehicles speeding northbound across the Queensferry Crossing en route to the plant at around 5.30pm.
Emergency vehicles came screaming through the normally quiet Duloch area of the town, alerting locals to the potential drama.
One woman said: “The police went flying up the road. They had sirens and blue lights on and they just kept coming.
“It was mad. We thought something terrible must have happened.”
The fire and ambulance services were also on standby as a cordon was thrown up around the scene and surrounding roads were closed.
Buses due to service the route past the centre were diverted for three hours until the roads reopened shortly after 8.30pm.
Staff forced to leave belongings inside the building during the evacuation were allowed to return to collect them but then sent home.
The depot remained closed for the rest of the night and it is unclear whether it will reopen this morning.
An Amazon spokesperson said: “Safety is our top priority. Out of an abundance of caution we evacuated the building for a short period earlier today.”
The police went flying up the road. They had sirens and blue lights on and they just kept coming. WITNESS