London City Airport Evacuated: CS Gas Found

London City Airport was evacuated today in a “chemical incident” after CS gas is believed to have been discharged inside the terminal.

The alarm was raised after passengers and staff began coughing and were struggling to breathe.

Firefighters and police wearing protective equipment carried out two complete sweeps of the airport building before what is believed to be a CS gas spray cannister was found on a subsequent search.

Paramedics treated 27 people at the scene and two others were taken to hospita.

Police have discovered a CS gas spray at London City Airport which is believed to have been discarded by a passenger prior to check-in

— Sky News Newsdesk (@SkyNewsBreak) October 21, 2016

Passengers were warned to expect “long delays” and hundreds of people were evacuated from the central London airport this afternoon.

Among those caught up in the incident was former Unified Cruiserweight and WBA world heavyweight champion boxer David Haye.

The Londoner had been due to fly to Edinburgh, Scotland, to watch fellow boxer Josh Taylor fight but his flight was cancelled.

He tweeted: “Gutted cant get to Scotland for @JoshTaylorBoxer fight tonight. As #CityAirport got evacuated when everyone started coughing uncontrollably!”

Gutted cant get to Scotland for @JoshTaylorBoxer fight tonight. As #CityAirport got evacuated when everyone started coughing uncontrollably!

— David Haye (@mrdavidhaye) October 21, 2016

Witness Tanya Ramsay told Sky News: “Everyone was coughing a lot, struggling to breathe, struggling to not cough.

“People weren’t managing to get their hands over their mouths in time and I heard a couple of men talking about how their eyes were absolutely stinging and streaming.”

The airport has since re-opened and police say they are not treating the incident as terrorist-related.

Incident

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “Whilst the cause of the incident has not yet been confirmed, officers are investigating whether it was the result of an accidental discharge of the spray.

“Enquiries continue. This is not being treated as a terrorist-related incident. At this early stage officers believe that the spray may have been discarded by a passenger prior to check-in.”

London Ambulance Service said they were called to the airport at 4.11pm and sent a number of units including their specialist Hazardous Area Response Team.

Incoming planes from Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Belfast City and Paris were diverted to other airports while passengers were advised to check with their airlines for the latest flight information.

Airport has now reopened. We thank passengers for their patience, access to terminal will be staggered & disruption to flights expected.

— London City Airport (@LondonCityAir) October 21, 2016

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