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The south terminal of London’s Gatwick airport has been evacuated following the discovery of a suspected banned item.
The British Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit was deployed on Friday morning after the item was found in a passenger’s luggage.
“The south terminal remains closed as a precaution while we continue to investigate a security incident,” Gatwick said.
Sussex Police said they were called to the airport at 8.20am following the discovery of a “suspected prohibited item”.
“To ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users, a security cordon has been put in place whilst the matter is dealt with,” the force said.
“This is causing significant disruption and some roads around the south terminal have been closed,” it added. “We’d advise the public to avoid the area where possible.”
The response is standard procedure during security scares, but is likely to cause significant disruption to passengers.
Gatwick is the UK’s second-busiest airport, with 634 flights scheduled on Friday, according to aviation data provider Cirium.
Passengers reported confusion around the evacuation.
Afiya Rufaro, who had been due to fly to Bilbao on a 1pm flight, said passengers had been told to leave the terminal but were given very little information by airport staff.
Everyone was stood around outside, “angry and cold”, she said.
“We took ages to leave the terminal and didn’t know where to go,” she added. “No information has been given via screens or megaphone for over an hour now.”
Separately, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday it had carried out a controlled explosion on a suspicious package near the US embassy in south London.
The Met said: “Initial indications are that the item was a hoax device. An investigation will now follow.”
This is a developing story
