Dec 19, 2006 4:41 pm US/Eastern
A.P. Headquarters Target Of White Powder Scare
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ―
About 150 employees were briefly evacuated from the headquarters newsroom of The Associated Press on Tuesday after a staffer opened an envelope containing an unknown white powder.
City officials conducted an onsite test of the substance and initial reports indicated it was harmless, Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll said. The envelope was taken to a lab for further testing.
The envelope, which also contained explicit photographs, came to the AP's mail department on the 15th floor of the building at 450 W. 33rd St. and was delivered to an employee in the newsroom on the 14th floor.
Around 2 p.m., staffers were asked to leave the 14th floor while the test was conducted. Employees moved to computer terminals on the 15th floor, and news operations were not disrupted. Employees returned to their desks about an hour later.
Five people who had contact with the substance or were nearby when the envelope was opened were asked to wash down as a precaution.
The mail scare came four days after a suspicious package leaking white powder was found near CNN's office at U.N. headquarters. That substance was found to be flour.
Envelopes containing white powder have also been delivered this year to former Pres. Bill Clinton's office in Harlem, to the New York Times and to the office of Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y, in midtown Manhattan.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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