Vip News : Terror alert at Manchester airport investigated

LONDON - There was chaos at Manchester airport yesterday after a man ran onto the runway carrying a briefcase. Access to the runway is restricted and the fact that is man was Asian in appearance and was heard shouting “Allah” caused panic at the airport and disrupted dozens of scheduled flights and left thousands of passengers stranded.

The man was detained by the police under the Mental Health Act. The man was subdued by a Taser stun gun and the Army bomb disposal squad later triggered a controlled explosion of the briefcase and found that it was harmless. Steve Thomas, assistant chief constable of Greater Manchester police said that the man dumped his car behind at a security checkpoint and tried to force his way in even after officials told him he could go no further, "He was chased by security officers and got as far as 200 metres into the security perimeter before he was detained by police officers, who were very quickly on the scene," Mr. Thomas said.

It took several police officers to subdue the man who is currently being held at a secure unit in the airport. "We were concerned that we might be dealing with a man who might be trying to attack a plane and kill himself in the process. CCTV cameras picked up everything and this man was tackled within 200 metres by police. At no time was airport security breached and there was no danger to the public," Thomas asserted. He added that the Taser was used since the level of danger posed by the man was unknown.

An investigation into what exactly was the man's intention and how he was able to get onto the runway in underway. Most of the passengers who were stranded while the man was taken away had just come in from Florida to escape from Hurricane Rita and were in for a shock when told that a major security alert was on. Julie Gater, of Stoke-on-Trent said, "It's important that everybody is safe - its just one of those things."

Posted on : Sat, 24 Sep 2005 12:30 GMT | General News
By : Mike Lawson