Car suspected of having bomb stopped at Lakenheath gate

[The Patriot]

Car suspected of having bomb stopped at Lakenheath gate

04-04-2011 02:35 AM

ShareThis Published:
Mon, 2011-04-04 10:33


Car suspected of having bomb stopped at Lakenheath gate


Car suspected of having bomb stopped at Lakenheath gate

By Geoff Ziezulewicz
Stars and Stripes

A vehicle suspected of containing explosives was stopped early Monday at RAF Lakenheath in England.

Officials with the U.S. Air Force’s 48th Fighter Wing did not return calls for comment Monday morning. But Suffolk police spokesman Nishan Wijeratne confirmed that a vehicle containing numerous passengers and possibly explosives was stopped at the gate.

Air Force officials contacted British authorities shortly after 9 a.m. when the suspicious vehicle was detained, Wijeratne said.

As of 10 a.m. local time, a 1,500-meter “safety exclusion zone” was established around the base’s perimeter, he said, leading to the closure of some area roads.

U.S. bomb disposal crews were on the scene, and experts from the British army were en route to the site to determine whether the car contained explosives, according to Wijeratne.

The car’s occupants were being questioned by Air Force authorities but had not been arrested, he said.

Wijeratne would not comment on specifics involving the suspected explosives or the car’s occupants, noting that everyone was in a “wait and see” mode while bomb disposal teams assessed the potential threat.








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