Canadian embassy in Washington DC evacuated briefly over ‘suspicious’ letter
Canada’s embassy in the U.S. capital was evacuated for about an hour Friday after a suspicious package was found in the mail room.
The U.S. Secret Service ordered Ambassador Gary Doer and the embassy’s 325 employees out of the building, located just down the street from the Capitol building (9:30 a.m), said embassy spokesman Chris Plunkett.
Approximately an hour later, the building was given the all-clear after the package was determined to not be dangerous.
“It was found to be non-hazardous,” Secret Service spokesman Max Milien said of the letter.
Several police cars and fire trucks descended upon the embassy on Pennsylvania Avenue, a major D.C. roadway that leads to the White House. Streets were closed, staff were gathered in a park next to the embassy and the Secret Service took command of the facility.
“The U.S. Secret Service has a robust presence on the ground to assist our team in dealing with this,” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said.
Officials gave no other details about the contents of the letter or who sent it.