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Crime

Scottish parliament evacuated due to white powder

November 7, 2017

The Scottish parliament building has been reopened after the discovery of packages containing white powder prompted an evacuation. Parliament later announced that afternoon sessions would go ahead as planned.

https://p.dw.com/p/2nAt1
Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh
Image: picture alliance/dpa/D. Kalker

Scotland's parliament building was evacuated on Tuesday after at least one package containing white powder was found.

A package containing white powder was sent to a Conservative Party lawmaker, a source at the parliament told Reuters news agency.

"It's a white powder incident, there were a couple of suspicious packages sent to a Tory (Conservative) MSP (Member of Scottish Parliament)," the unnamed source at the parliament was quoted as saying.

"Police in Edinburgh responded to the Scottish Parliament at around 11.35 a.m. (UTC) ... following the discovery of a suspicious package," police said in a statement.

"The building has been evacuated as a precaution and inquiries are continuing."

The official Scottish Parliament Twitter account announced part of the building had been evacuated, but later said the crisis was over.

In April three packages containing "white powder type substances" were reportedly sent to political offices.

aw/kms (Reuters, AP)