Evacuation at Warsaw's Largest Chopin Airport, Bomb Disposal Experts on Scene
People have been evacuated from Poland's largest international airport, Frederic Chopin Airport in Warsaw, reports Polsat News.
The evacuation was still ongoing as of 15:30 local time, with bomb disposal units actively working on the scene.
The press service of Polish airports stated that "one of the terminal areas is shut down." Passengers are known to be experiencing difficulties.
"I can confirm that an operation is underway. At the moment, one of the terminal areas is closed. The Border Service is coordinating the action," informed Piotr Rudzki of the PPL press service to Polsat News.
The emergency situation arose due to the contents of a passenger's luggage from the Republic of South Africa, who was en route to Dubai. It was revealed that an object resembling a grenade was found in the baggage. At the time, approximately 400 individuals were in the building.
"A search of the baggage of a citizen from the Republic of South Africa who was heading to Dubai was conducted. Preliminary information revealed four rounds of ammunition for a Kalashnikov rifle in the carry-on. An inspection of the registered luggage was also carried out, in which officers found an object similar to a grenade," confirmed Captain Dagmara Bielec-Janas of the border guard.
Bomb disposal technicians secured the suspicious luggage and transported it to a safe location. By 16:00, the airport resumed normal operations.
Experts are currently determining the origin of the dangerous findings. The South African citizen has already been detained.
A similar situation occurred just a few weeks ago, in July 2023, at Chopin Airport. Some passengers were evacuated due to suspicions of explosives in the terminal. However, after appropriate actions and checks were carried out, it was found that the unattended luggage posed no threat.
Yesterday in Poland, an incident involving unknown persons tampering with railway operations also occurred. They pulled the "emergency stop," resulting in nearly a dozen trains coming to an emergency halt.
The incident followed another that took place on Friday evening near Szczecin, where culprits also managed to play the Russian national anthem and a segment of a speech by Putin through the train's public address system.