The New York Police Department bomb squad also stopped a UPS truck to undergo an inspection. all originated from Yemen - possibly the same address. Officials say the checks are being done 'out of an abundance of caution.'"Īccording to an AP report, an official speaking on the condition of anonymity says the packages in Britain and the U.S. "What is unusual about today's events is the sheer number of them and the various cities that are simultaneously involved. "Suspicious package reports are very common," according to Temple-Raston's report. They were moved off to remote areas of the airports to be inspected. Law enforcement officials from the FBI and Transportation Security Administration examined two planes at Philadelphia International Airport and one at New Jersey's Newark airport - all of which had landed safely. Test results for explosives were negative. Inspectors also found white powder, according to the AP. The item found on a UPS plane at England's East Midlands Airport was reportedly a "manipulated" ink toner cartridge, which had wires attached to it. The two packages were sent from Yemen, according to the statement: The security alert began with the discovery of "potential suspicious packages" on two planes headed to the United States, according to a White House statement issued Friday afternoon. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports that law enforcement officials testing the materials have not discovered any explosives. That prompted conflicting reports, with many emphasizing the likelihood that a bomb had been found. The flight was stopped in England late Thursday night, CNN reported. after a suspicious package containing an item resembling a bomb was found on a United Parcel Service cargo plane believed to be en route from Yemen to Chicago. Investigators are examining three cargo planes in the northeastern U.S. Our original post: "Bomb Squads Investigate Suspicious Items Found On UPS Cargo Flights" Linda Haase, associate vice president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, says the group is "taking appropriate precautions'' after being contacted early Friday. Reports have been emerging that some of the suspicious packages that triggered alerts at several airports were addressed to synagogues in Chicago. ET: An all-clear has been issued at Newark Airport after a UPS plane was inspected for a potential suspicious package.Īnd in Chicago, synagogues have been asked to be on alert following reports of suspicious packages on cargo planes, the spokeswoman for a Chicago Jewish organization tells the AP. Yemen is the home of the al-Qaida branch that claimed responsibility for an attempted bombing of a U.S.-bound airliner last Christmas. ET: Authorities are investigating whether suspicious packages were sent from Yemen as a "dry run" for a plot to send bombs to targets in the United States, a U.S. Yemen was also the source of several packages that triggered alerts about three UPS jets Friday.Ī company spokesman also told the AP that FedEx "has embargoed all shipments from Yemen indefinitely." ET: FedEx has confiscated a suspicious package in Dubai that was shipped from Yemen, a company spokesman tells the AP. The plane, reportedly United Arab Emirates flight 201 from Dubai, is bound for New York City's John F. official says that t wo military fighter jets are escorting an airliner from the Canadian border to New York, according to the AP. While clarifying that the packages contained "explosive materials," Obama and his advisers did not specifically say that the packages contained actual bombs. The president and members of his national security team spoke at a news conference Friday afternoon. ET: Authorities are investigating several suspicious packages sent from Yemen to the United States, in what President Obama describes as a "credible terrorist threat" to the United States. The AP is also citing an anonymous official who says the packages were intercepted in England and Dubai after Saudi Arabia's intelligence service gave information related to Yemen to the United States. ET: Early tests show the seized packages contain the powerful industrial explosive PETN - the same chemical used in the 2009 Christmas attack, U.S. Details are still emerging - and more coverage of the investigation can be found here. The packages were addressed to synagogues in Chicago. Law enforcement officials in the United States, England and Dubai are investigating several suspicious packages sent from Yemen to the United States - at least two of which the White House says contained "explosive materials." Law enforcement agents arrive at a United Parcel Service staging area at Newark Liberty International Airport, where a cargo plane was searched and a suspicious package removed Friday.
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