A leak from a package containing vaccines sparked an emergency response to a flight landing at Glasgow Airport on Friday morning.
Police, fire brigade and ambulance services were alerted to concerns over a spillage from a package on board the KLM service from Amsterdam, which landed in Glasgow at around 10am.
Parts of the airport were closed and the aircraft cordoned off as a precautionary measure as the cargo was investigated.
Teams were stood down at around 1:30pm after the package was deemed safe.
Reports suggest that the vaccine may have been for polio.
? All emergency crews have now left Glasgow Airport after a package found on a KLM flight was declared safe. pic.twitter.com/M4KTkINqiJ
— Radio Clyde News (@RadioClydeNews) October 4, 2019
A spokesperson for the airline said: “KLM confirms that on board KL1473, operating between Amsterdam and Glasgow, a package packed in dry ice started to leak.
“The package contained glass tubes with vaccines. These tubes have remained intact with only the cooling around them starting to leak.
“As a precaution, the fire brigade cordoned off the immediate vicinity of the aircraft.
“Passengers were never in danger but were taken off board as a precaution.
“The incident was stood down at 13.30 after the package was declared safe by emergency services.”
Exciting times at Glasgow airport with a package containing a Polio vaccine burst creating a bio- hazard ! We had to evacuate our plane ( KLM) and wait for 3 hours until it was cleaned and the contamination removed ! #klm #glasgowairport #poorinfofromglasgowairport pic.twitter.com/opIi9vpxug
— mark callan (@mcsharky1) October 4, 2019
Two passengers are understood to have been checked on the scene by paramedics as a precautionary measure.
A section of the international terminal was evacuated and closed to passengers, and a slip road to the airport from the eastbound M8 was also coned off.
The rest of the airport remained operational.
A Glasgow Airport spokesperson said: “At approximately 10am today, the airport fire service attended an arriving KLM flight in response to concerns raised over a piece of cargo.
“The incident was stood down at 13.25 after the package was declared safe by emergency services.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Following examination of the cargo package on the plane at Glasgow Airport, we can now confirm that the package has been deemed safe and there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding this incident.””
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