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London
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London’s Heathrow airport has evacuated the check-in area of one of its terminals due to a possible hazardous substance incident, a Heathrow spokesperson told CNN on Monday evening.
“Terminal 4 check in has been closed and evacuated while emergency services respond to an incident. We are asking passengers not to travel to Terminal 4 and supporting those on site. All other terminals are operating as normal,” a Heathrow spokesperson said in a statement.
Terminal 4 is home to check-in counters for AirFrance, Bulgaria Air, China Southern, Etihad Airways, Korean Air, Qatar Airways, and Vueling and WestJet, among others.
A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said in a statement that firefighters are responding to a “possible hazardous materials incident” at Heathrow.
“Specialist crews have been deployed to carry out an assessment of the scene, and Terminal 4 check in has been evacuated as a precaution whilst firefighters respond,”the spokesperson said.
London Fire Brigade said it was called about the incident at 5:01 p.m. local time (12:01 p.m. ET) and crews from at least three fire stations in the surrounding area have been sent to the airport.
Heathrow has been plagued by a string of recent incidents. The airport completely shut down in March following a fire in an electrical substation a few miles away, which disrupted the local power supply, throwing more than 1,000 flights into disarray and forcing pilots to divert their journeys in midair.
Terminal 4 was closed for two years during the coronavirus pandemic, and it reopened on June 14, 2022. Heathrow said parts of the terminal underwent refurbishment during the closure, including the air-conditioning system, bathrooms and baggage screening machines.
This is a developing story and will be updated.