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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Hurricane Matthew – State of Emergency in Florida as Governor warns: “This Will Kill You”

As Florida braces itself for the impact of Hurricane Matthew, Governor Rick Scott issued a dire warning to residents: “This will kill you.”

President Obama has already declared a State of Emergency for Florida and the National Weather Service fears that the hurricane could leave parts of the state “uninhabitable for weeks.”

Latest forecast models predict that Palm Beach County will be worst hit by Matthew which has already claimed the lives of more than 100 people.

Reuters said the death toll was at least 102 with 98 of those in Haiti alone – many of which were killed by falling trees, flying debris and swollen rivers.

Do not surf

It is unclear exactly what path Matthew will take, but if it does make landfall it will be the first hurricane to hit Florida directly since 2005.

Governor Scott said today: “Do not surf. Do not go on the beach. This will kill you.”He also warned of widespread power outages as the National Weather Service predicted that waves from the storm could reach up to 18 feet and warned of severe coastal surging.

Schools across most of Florida are closed, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is closed as are Orlando’s Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, SeaWorld, and LEGOLAND.

The National Weather Service warned: “Extremely dangerous, life-threatening weather conditions are forecast.

Extreme

“The center of Hurricane Matthew containing the strongest wind gusts, storm surge and heavy rain squalls will move along or over portions of the east central Florida coastline very early Friday morning and into the afternoon.

It warned that:

• Widespread extensive to devastating wind impacts will be felt.
• Airborne debris lofted by extreme winds will be capable of breaching structures, unprotected windows and vehicles.
• Effects such as these ranging from the coast to well inland have not been experienced in central Florida in decades.
• Local winds will exceed what occurred during the hurricanes of 2004.
• Travel will be strongly discouraged beginning at dusk.
• Expect widespread power outages.
• Failure to adequately shelter may result in serious injury, loss of life or immense human suffering.

A number of mandatory evacuation orders are in effect throughout Florida and tolls have been lifted on all roads necessary for evacuation.

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Americans Flee Coast as Hurricane Matthew Approaches US

President Barack Obama and state governors advised millions to evacuate or brace for a possibly destructive Hurricane Matthew. Residents near the southeast US coast on Wednesday stocked up on groceries, lined up for gasoline and took off inland.

Matthew, considered the strongest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, battered the Bahamas and heads directly for the United States. The US National Hurricane Center said that it would likely hit Florida with heavy rain, powerful winds and storm surges on Thursday.

Obama emphasized in a briefing with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that if there’s an evacuation order in their community, people should take it seriously.

FEMA has placed commodities and other supplies in Albany, Georgia and at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. They also positioned personnel to emergency operation centers in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.

According to the Miami-based hurricane center, Matthew is a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of about 115 miles per hour on Wednesday night. They added that it was too early to forecast where the hurricane was expected to do the most damage.

Emergency measures

In Florida, Governor Rick Scott appealed to those areas at risk to evacuate as soon as possible. The inhabitants may start leaving even if orders had not yet been issued.

Scott also called for Obama to declare a pre-landfall emergency for Florida. This would bring federal resources such as water, food and tarps, and would augment an already active force of 1,500 National Guard members with an additional 1,500.

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal’s office said he extended a state of emergency proclamation to include 17 additional counties. This brings the total to 30 counties.

Medical staff cleared at least four hospitals as evacuations were proceeding in about a dozen of Florida’s coastal counties, Scott said.

Authorites expect the initial effects of the storm on Saturday morning in South Carolina. At this time drivers at the state already report gridlocks and long delays.

On social media, Floridians said they were stocking up on groceries and setting up their homes with hurricane shutters.

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