Piarco shutdown

Piarco Airport was shut down yesterday after repeated bomb threats. An Airport Authority source confirmed to Newsday that the airport had been closed from 6 pm to 8 pm. She said: “Since 2.58 pm we have been receiving anonymous calls, in the same voice, saying that three bombs were set to go off, one at a time at 7.30 pm.” The caller, she said, had threatened to explode one bomb each at LIAT, Caribbean Star and the airport building itself. An official said the police cordoned off the roundabout and no one could enter the airport. “We are following security procedures, scanning the airport and looking for strange objects. At 6 pm we went into emergency mode, shutting down the airport, with the Police and Fire Services on standby. We intend to reopen the airport at 8 pm. The bomb squad is now sweeping the building.” The re-opening time, she elaborated, would depend on the advice of the bomb squad.

The official said that while the airport building was closed, the runway was still active. “Nothing could be done about planes in the air as they still have to land. But LIAT and Caribbean Star planes, we have advised to divert away from Piarco and land elsewhere.” She said passengers on planes landing at Piarco would not be allowed to disembark into the terminal for the period. Some passengers had complained that certain flights had been allowed to leave the airport but not others, but the source was not in a position to comment or to state the times of the last flights allowed out of Piarco. Asked if the caller had made any demands, she said: “No. We are not in negotiations with anyone, like unions or anyone.” Another source told Newsday that the threats had been phoned through individually to each of the Airports Authority, LIAT and Caribbean Star. BWIA corporate communications manager, Clint Williams, remarked: “The airport is being closed to do a sweep. The authorities are on top of it.”