London's Gatwick Airport visited by bomb squad to respond to suspicious item

British police sent a bomb disposal team to London’s Gatwick Airport after a suspected prohibited item was found in luggage, authorities said on Friday, following the earlier evacuation of a passenger terminal.

Gatwick, Britain’s second busiest airport, is located about 30 miles south of London. It said earlier it had evacuated a large part of its South terminal, citing a security incident.

The incident disrupted weekend travel plans for thousands of passengers, with more than 600 flights due to land or take off on Friday from Gatwick, amounting to more than 121,000 passenger seats, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Sussex Police, the local force, said a security cordon would remain in place while the matter is dealt with.

“Police were called to the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport at 8:20am on Friday following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage,” it said in a statement. “As a precaution, an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team is being deployed to the airport.”

Airport authorities said on X that passengers were being kept out of the building while the incident was ongoing, while police said there was significant traffic disruption in the area and advised people to avoid it.

In videos posted online, thousands of passengers could be seen outside the terminal and the surrounding area. Emergency foil blankets were distributed to some of the passengers to help shield themselves from the cold, social media pictures showed.

In a separate incident earlier on Friday, London police carried out a controlled explosion near the US embassy in south London after discovering a suspect package. Police later said they believed it was a hoax.