News Flash

Evacuated federal building in Atlanta deemed safe

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-09 02:19

WASHINGTON - The police announced Tuesday a downtown Atlanta federal building that was evacuated earlier that day was deemed safe, as a suspicious package turned out to be harmless.

The suspicious package was found in the mail room of the Peachtree Summit Federal Building in downtown Atlanta. Atlanta Police Spokesman Otis Redmond said the suspicious package contained a glass decorative object.

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The package was picked up by X-ray scanner. It is standard procedure to X-ray packages that come into the mail room, as the building houses offices of the Internal Revenue Services, Social Security and other federal agencies.

Workers notified the police as they suspect the package contained a grenade. The police evacuated the building and closed off parts of Ivan Allen Drive and other streets in downtown Atlanta. Emergency vehicles and personnel could be seen in front of the building. Atlanta police bomb squad were sent in to examine the package.

Even though the package was deemed not a threat, the building remained closed, and Redmond said he didn't know when it will reopen.