Powder discovery sparks chemical alert

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Powder-discov ... 3753456.jp

By Melanie Wallwork

Suspicious pink powder sparked a chemical alert after workers found it in a sealed bag at a Preston postal sorting office.
Two postal workers have come into contact with the substance although neither is believed to have had a serious reaction to it. It is thought the powder may have come from a package with Arabic writing on it.

Lancashire Police and the fire brigade, including experts from its hazardous materials unit, were called to deal with the incident at the Royal Mail Delivery Office on Christian Road at 7.50am on Thursday.

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: "We received a call to say that staff had found a sealed plastic bag with pink powder in it.

"Hazardous materials and the ambulance service have attended the scene and are in the process of analysing the packet to find out what it is."

The pair were taken to Royal Preston Hospital as a precaution.

A spokesman for Lancashire ambulance said: "There are two casualties involved and the container came out of a package that possible had Arabic writing on it."

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council, which has sent an expert to the scene, said: "The county analyst is on t
he scene but at present we do not have any information as to what the substance may be."

The substance has been taken away for analysis.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "Royal Mail has rigorous procedures in place for such incidents and these have been put into practice in this case.

"Unfortunately it is likely that some deliveries to our customers in Preston today will be delayed as a result of the incident, for which we apologise."

[POSTMAN]

Suspicious pink powder It's only washing powder for :lfo shirts so they don't lose their colour.

[Night Tonic]

Foot powder. Wonder how their feet are.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM ... uorGn8uoSQ

13 hours ago

A suspicious package which caused alarm at a Post Office depot turned out to be a herbal remedy, police have said.

Staff alerted police after they found a sealed plastic bag with pink powder in it at the Royal Mail Delivery Office on Christian Road, Preston, Lancashire.

Tests revealed the powder was baking soda coloured with artificial colouring, while a note with the package appeared to be instructions for applying a herbal remedy.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Man-hurt-in-p ... 3753456.jp


A bag of suspicious pink powder that sparked a chemical alert in Lancashire has been identified as a herbal foot remedy.
The substance, discovered at the Royal Mail Delivery Office on Christian Road in Preston on Thursday morning, was found to be baking soda with an artificial colouring.

A note was also found that is believed to have been related to the package, written in Gujarati, which said: "Take with water for problems for your feet."

Two postal workers were given decontamination treatment and taken to Royal Preston Hospital as a precaution.

Initially one man suffered skin irritation after coming into contact with the powder, but it has now been confirmed by police that neither suffered any ill-effects.

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: "They are not sure how it got into the postal system. Maybe it was posted in another package that has been damaged. And it isn't known where it has come from or where it was going to."

Lancashire Police and the fire brigade, including experts from its hazardous materials unit, were called to deal with the incident at around 7.50am.

A spokesman for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service said: "If it had bee
n something nasty sent by Al-Qaida it would have been no good having crews who are equipped to deal with this stuff several miles down the road.

"Especially not with the state of things in the world, we can never be too sure. And if anything like this does happen, we are ready to deal with it."

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: "There was a slight delay to our post men and women going out by about 30 minutes and we apologise for this."