The UK’s London Luton Airport has resumed operations after a suspicious object in a passenger’s hand luggage led to the airport’s closure.
Approximately 1,500 passengers were evacuated from the airport on Monday after the X-ray machine detected a rectangular item.
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The airport confirmed that the emergency evacuation followed a full security escalation after airport security, the police and the specialist military explosive ordnance detection unit were unable to identify the object in the passenger’s hand luggage during a routine security search.
The airport said in a statement that under questioning by the police, the passenger was unable to account for the item, which was later confirmed to be a hair straightener. The item was rectangular in shape and had a large amount of organic mass, power sources and several electronic cables. It was later taken away by Bedfordshire Police for further examination.
Dave Ford of the airport’s policing unit said: "The situation came about because of the combination of suspicious items in the hand luggage, an inadequate explanation and the fact that the passenger who owned the bag also told officers he had left it unattended while he went elsewhere in the terminal."
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The BBC reported that all flights were suspended and the approach road to the airport closed following the incident; the police later clarified that no arrest had been made.
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