Emergency services have safely contained and removed a bag of “industrial strength chemical granules” dumped at Trafalgar Square in central London.
London Fire Brigade attended the scene alongside police and ambulance crews, and reported a “chemical incident” near the historic Saint Martins in the Field church, which overlooks the National Gallery, shortly after 08:30 BST.
Around 20 people were evacuated from the church as a precaution, while emergency services determined the chemicals involved and removed the hazardous material.
Station Manager Sam Kazmanli, who is at the scene said:
“Firefighters investigate the a bag that has been left near Saint Martins in the Field church in Trafalgar Square. Fire crews wearing breathing apparatus inspected the bag which had industrial strength chemical granules inside.
“Firefighters used detection and monitoring equipment to find out what chemicals were involved. We found that the bag contained industrial strength chemical granules inside. We doubled bag the contents and it was removed by London Ambulance Service’s Hazardous Area Response Team (HART). Around 20 people were evacuated from the church as a precaution.”
We're dealing with a chemical incident close to Saint Martins in the Field church in #TrafalgarSquare pic.twitter.com/4ctW1VdTc3
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) October 9, 2015
Crews continue to investigate the possible chemical incident in #TrafalgarSquare http://t.co/uMgEipu6kJ pic.twitter.com/NI4Du9G6v2
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) October 9, 2015
