KoriEllis
09-04-2004, 10:54 PM
LA Airport Shuts Down on Security Scares
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles International Airport was shut down for more than four hours on Saturday after a reported security breach but federal officials said no terrorism was suspected.
Officials evacuated four terminals on Labor Day weekend, one of the busiest travel holidays of the year, after a person bypassed security, according to airport and federal officials.
A separate incident at the airport's international terminal involved a flashlight in a bag that blew up a screener's hand, according to a Department of Homeland Security official in Washington.
"At this time we do not believe that there is any terrorism nexus related to these incidents," the official said on condition of anonymity.
The terminals were evacuated at around 7:30 a.m. (10:30 a.m. EDT) and operations were soon expected to return to normal after the airport was shut down for more than four hours.
"Two unrelated situations are going on," airport spokesman Harold Johnson said earlier. "We have a partial evacuation of terminals 6, 7 and 8, while we're investigating a possible security breach."
Johnson said passengers coming in on arriving flights would be bused to a separate lot for pickup. Authorities closed the entire central terminal and blocked all access roads leading to the airport.
There have been several incidents involving Los Angeles airport in recent years, including a foiled plot to bomb it on New Year's Eve of 2000. On July 4, 2002, an Egyptian opened fire at the El Al counter at LAX's international terminal, killing several people.
The airport, which has eight domestic terminals and one dedicated to international flight, was the third-busiest for passenger traffic in the United States in 2003 and the fifth-busiest in the world, according to the Airports Council International.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles International Airport was shut down for more than four hours on Saturday after a reported security breach but federal officials said no terrorism was suspected.
Officials evacuated four terminals on Labor Day weekend, one of the busiest travel holidays of the year, after a person bypassed security, according to airport and federal officials.
A separate incident at the airport's international terminal involved a flashlight in a bag that blew up a screener's hand, according to a Department of Homeland Security official in Washington.
"At this time we do not believe that there is any terrorism nexus related to these incidents," the official said on condition of anonymity.
The terminals were evacuated at around 7:30 a.m. (10:30 a.m. EDT) and operations were soon expected to return to normal after the airport was shut down for more than four hours.
"Two unrelated situations are going on," airport spokesman Harold Johnson said earlier. "We have a partial evacuation of terminals 6, 7 and 8, while we're investigating a possible security breach."
Johnson said passengers coming in on arriving flights would be bused to a separate lot for pickup. Authorities closed the entire central terminal and blocked all access roads leading to the airport.
There have been several incidents involving Los Angeles airport in recent years, including a foiled plot to bomb it on New Year's Eve of 2000. On July 4, 2002, an Egyptian opened fire at the El Al counter at LAX's international terminal, killing several people.
The airport, which has eight domestic terminals and one dedicated to international flight, was the third-busiest for passenger traffic in the United States in 2003 and the fifth-busiest in the world, according to the Airports Council International.