Sunday, 9 March 2003 - 3:04pm |
National News

Cautious approach to unattended packages

1 min read

A central Wellington hotel and a commercial building were evacuated for a short time in the city last night while Army bomb disposal experts dealt with what turned out to be a discarded pizza delivery bag.

Inspector Marty Grenfell, Wellington Police Area Controller, said police were called about 8pm after what was thought to be a suspicious package was found outside Radio New Zealand House on The Terrace.

Police investigated and, erring on the side of caution, called out the bomb disposal experts who undertook a controlled detonation.

&#34Some members of the public were inconvenienced during the evacuation but it’s better to be safe than sorry,&#34 Mr Grenfell said. &#34We adopt a standard safety response in these situations which involves calling in the Army disposal experts.&#34

Last night’s incident was the third time in the last ten days that unattended packages have been detonated. The earlier ones were both in Lower Hutt.

&#34While the number of callouts is unusual it probably reflects the heightened sense of awareness amongst the public when they see unattended packages.

&#34Our response to these situations has not changed. Public safety comes first,&#34 Mr Grenfell said. &#34We would however encourage people to think carefully about where they leave their belongings.&#34