FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A bomb threat triggered temporary evacuations Saturday of two terminals at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, but operations resumed after Broward sheriffs deputies gave an all-clear.
Deputies started evacuating Terminals 2 and 3 after a bomb threat was reported at around 8:49 a.m, according to the agency’s Twitter account. They also barred entry to the entire airport and asked the public to avoid the area while its bomb squad investigated.
“As a precaution, deputies have excavated Terminals 2 & 3 and have also shutdown entry into the airport. BSO’s bomb squad is investigating. Persons headed to the airport are asked to avoid the area,” according to an 11:46 a.m. post.
But less than an hour later, deputies gave the all-clear. Delta Air Lines, the predominant carrier at Terminal 2, started readmitting customers, a spokeswoman at the company’s Atlanta headquarters said.
Passengers spent the morning wondering what exactly prompted the evacuations and flight delays.
Initial posts on the airport’s official social media pages cited a “security investigation” while passengers posted messages stating they had been told about a bomb threat.
At around 11:30 a.m., the airport posted an update stating that the lower-level roadway was open and that access to Terminals 1 and 4, plus the rental car center, was not impacted. However, a few minutes later, the airport posted another message stating that law enforcement had closed the lower-level roadway again.
People trying to get to the airport have reported traffic backups, particularly along the northbound and eastbound lanes of U.S. 1. Passengers have also reported flight delays.
Terminal 2 hosts Delta and Air Canada. Terminal 3 includes American, Azul, JetBlue, Sun Country and Sunwing, according to the airport website.
Another passenger posted a message saying passengers have been moved into the Terminal 3 parking garage.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone has been injured.
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