Statue of Liberty evacuated after bomb threat and canine search

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/24/statue-of-liberty-new-york-police-suspicious-package

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New York police said on Friday that the evacuation of the Statue of Liberty had been caused by a bomb threat. Hundreds of tourists were taken off the island.

A 911 caller made the threat late on Friday morning, “stating they were going to blow up the Statue of Liberty”, the National Park Service said in a statement.

Federal police, including two canine units, investigated and the dogs found “an area of interest” in a locker area at the statue’s base, the agency said. Law enforcement then decided to evacuate the island.

Nothing harmful was found in the lockers, according to NYPD spokesman Steve David, but the bomb squad continued sweeping the area as a precaution.

Visitors posted photos online, showing hundreds of people being herded towards a ferry landing. Some reported their experiences.

Waiting to be evacuated off #libertyisland. Interesting. pic.twitter.com/C0WAdbZRyB

John Blount, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, said he was in the statue’s crown, chatting with a park ranger, when: “All of a sudden he got a call on his phone. He said ‘OK’, looked up and said, ‘It’s time to leave.’ We had just made it up there.”

Blount said the evacuation proceeded smoothly. The visitors were put on a boat, he said, and “were just floating around out there for the past hour and a half”.

Eric Gustafson, of Worchester, Massachusetts, said he was about to enter the building when park rangers ushered “everyone to the flagpole” and told them they had to leave.

“They didn’t give us a reason for it. The communication was lacking,” Gustafson said. About 90 minutes later, he and his family were back in Manhattan.

Other tourists said they were taken off boats while trying to leave nearby Ellis Island, then those vessels were used to evacuate Liberty Island. One, Karen Mason, of Cincinnati, Ohio, said she didn’t feel like she was in any danger.

“But we saw helicopters and we knew something was going on,” she said.

Statue Cruises postponed all services to the island until the investigation was completed.