Miami airport evacuated over misleading toy
Anyone in the Miami International Airport on Saturday night was in for an emotional roller coaster after a grenade was found by a janitor. But fear not, it was in fact a toy. They just didn’t treat it like one.
The grenade might’ve turned out to be a toy grenade, and yes, anyone who was evacuated has a fun story to tell at their next dinner party. But at the time it probably wasn’t all that funny.
Passengers and airport employees were all hastily evacuated from Concourse J at around 8pm on Saturday, after a janitor found what appeared to be a grenade in an unattended bag in one of the ladies rooms, according to news.com.au.
Luckily, the grenade was found to be completely safe and not remotely dangerous – so after an hour and a half, authorities determined that the airport could resume normal operations and let everyone back in.
“Yes, like the grenades you see in the cartoons,” Lee Cowart from Miami-Dade airport confirmed.
“But you have to understand, when something that had the potential to end another way ends like this, you realise tonight is a good night.”
A few nearby terminals in the north side of the airport were also evacuated, with a total of seven flights delayed overall.
“Thank you for your patience this evening,” airport officials wrote on Twitter after the evacuation had concluded. “Security and safety always first.”
Oh well, at least they were careful, right?
So was the grenade the property of a prankster, or just an honest, forgetful mum carrying a toy around? Authorities are currently investigating – but police have said that it’s “unclear” who put the grenade in the bathroom.
“It would be speculation at this point to determine whether it was a novelty item that perhaps a child left behind in the bathroom or whether someone meant something more malicious by that,” Cowart said in a statement.
So if you’re headed to an airport any time soon, look out for toy explosives.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
evacuation Miami International Airport toy grenadeLatest News
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