UK - Canterbury Cathedral evacced in powder scare

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Monday October 15, 2:42 AM

Britain's Canterbury Cathedral evacuated in powder scare

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Canterbury Cathedral was evacuated on Sunday after a man dropped white powder in one of its chapels, police said.

Several hundred worshippers were rushed out of the church, spiritual home of the world's Anglicans, after a cathedral worker saw a man depositing the powder during a lunch-time service.

"No arrest has yet been made," a Kent police spokeswoman said. "The sample has been sent for analysis."

All Sunday services at the cathedral were cancelled and the area was cordoned off.

The spokeswoman said people who had been in the church when the incident happened should seek advice from their doctor or a hospital if they felt unwell.

Fears of a biological assault on the United States or Britain grew on Sunday as top U.S. officials said terrorism could be behind the appearance of the potentially deadly disease anthrax in three American states.

The al Qaeda group of Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden -- America's prime suspect for the attacks on the United States on September 11 -- vowed on Saturday to hit U.S. and British targets in retaliation for U.S.-led strikes on Afghanistan.

-- Anonymous, October 14, 2001

Answers

I hope that it was a false alarm. This is already a problem and I hope that some nuts out there will not try stir up more fear by using fake powder to add to this crisis. Businesses, news agencies and now a church.

-- Anonymous, October 14, 2001

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