Two separate security scares at Los Angeles International Airport at the weekend forced parts of the facility to be shut for four hours.
According to the BBC News website, one alert was caused when a passenger managed to avoid security checks by going through an incorrect channel, while the second was caused by a “loud sound” thought to be a battery exploding inside a torch.
The website reports that planes were stopped from taking off and several terminals were shut during the alert, which meant thousands of passengers had to wait outside the airport.
A spokesman is quoted as saying: “Passenger screeners were checking the bag of a passenger on the north side of the checkpoint. There was a small explosion that slightly injured several people. The passenger with the bag is being questioned. Preliminary reports indicate the explosion may have been caused by flashlight batteries, but the investigation is ongoing.”
The BBC’s reported David Willis states that authorities at Los Angeles can be “more nervous than elsewhere”.
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd
