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HYPERASHEL
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Joined: 18 Nov 2003
Posts: 15397
Location: The South's Sauna, Atlanta
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 Posted: 10/18/05 - 15:48 Post subject: um........WOW
I can't imagine the traffic nightmare this caused.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/5116754/detail.html
Baltimore Tunnels Reopen After Security Alert
FBI Investigating Alleged Terror Threat
POSTED: 12:15 pm EDT October 18, 2005
UPDATED: 3:04 pm EDT October 18, 2005
BALTIMORE -- The Harbor Tunnel and the Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore reopened Tuesday afternoon after Maryland Transportation Authority police closed them as a security precaution.
The FBI is in charge of the investigation into an alleged terror threat against Baltimore harbor.
Maryland Transportation Authority Chief Gary McLhinney said the order to reopen the tunnels arrived around 1:10 p.m. He said the investigation would continue, but traffic was being allowed to drive through both tunnels.
An FBI spokeswoman in Baltimore didn't give details on the threat, but said investigators are in the process of conducting interviews.
The alert shut down the Harbor Tunnel, which carries traffic under Baltimore's harbor, and partially closed the Fort McHenry Tunnel for nearly two hours at midday. Traffic is moving again, although the closures caused a major disruption along Interstate 95, the East Coast's main north-south route.
A federal law enforcement official said authorities have been looking for several men who could be driving vehicles filled with explosives into the tunnel.
Federal officials said that they may or may not be searching for a specific vehicle, reported Baltimore television station WBAL, but pictures showed police were stopping and examining larger vehicles around the Fort McHenry tunnel.
Police were acting on information concerning the Baltimore tunnels that was gathered over the past several days, WBAL reported. The station said police emphasized that they were showing "an abundance of caution" in undertaking the operation.
Another official said the threat was phoned in to authorities by someone claiming to have information from overseas. The official said authorities were skeptical of the claim, but are checking it out.
Images from WBAL's helicopter showed several officers walking around with weapons drawn at the mouth of the Fort McHenry tunnel. During the shutdown, traffic was a complete standstill leading to the Harbor Tunnel. Police were diverting traffic off Interstate 895.
The FBI also conducted an operation at a separate location in conjunction with this security search and inspection, the television station said, but no details were available.
Henry Fawell, a spokesman for Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich, said there was a joint federal, state and local security operation under way and Ehrlich was closely monitoring the situation. He declined to comment further.
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