Suspect package at Whitehall in London
October 18, 2019
London's Metropolitan Police closed a road near Parliament in the Whitehall district on Friday while investigating and removing a suspicious package.
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"Specialist officers are in attendance and the vicinity is cordoned off while officers access the package," the Metropolitan Police wrote on Twitter.
Police later announced that the situation appeared to be back to normal.
The Reuters news agency and people at the scene also reported a person climbing up scaffolding near the base of the Big Ben tower at Parliament, but did not immediately link the ascent to the package. Nevertheless, police took the man into custody.
The Whitehall street in the Westminster district is seen as the base of the British government and is lined with several different ministries. The name Whitehall is also used to refer colloquially to the British civil service.
mkg/msh (Reuters)
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