Part of Heathrow Airport evacuated over ‘possible hazardous material incident’

Part of London Heathrow Airport was evacuated tonight over a ‘possible hazardous material incident’ and several people are understood to have been taken ill.

Terminal 4 – which serves Gulf Air, Air France and Qatar Airways – was shut while the London Fire Brigade and the Metropolitan Police were deployed to the scene.

Despite ongoing flights, passengers were told not to travel to the terminal while an investigation is ongoing.

Footage circulating on X shows hundreds of people with packed suitcases pacing outside the terminal.

National Rail had also confirmed that trains are unable to stop at Terminal 4 ‘due to the emergency services dealing with an incident.’

The fire service later confirmed that it is in the process of ‘standing down its response to the incident,’ adding: ‘The exact cause remains under investigation at this time.’

The LFB said around 20 people had been assessed by paramedics from the London Ambulance Service.

At 8.27pm, the airport said on X that emergency services had confirmed the terminal was ‘safe to reopen’ and it was doing ‘everything we can to ensure flights depart as planned today’.

Kieran Burchmore was one of the passengers stranded outside, looking for answers.

He told Metro that passengers are being called inside the terminal ‘flight by flight, adding: ‘We have been offered water and blankets but not enough to go around.

‘We can go to Level 1 for the loos and that’s it.. no other updates.

‘It’s chaos though, they have said they need cooperation and instead a rush towards terminal happened, telling everyone to get back.’

Kieran shared several pictures, showing multiple ambulances parked at the terminal, writing on X: ‘Still no update on the ground about the evacuation. We have been given water though.

‘What was majority ambulance attendance has now resulted in police arriving.’

A video shows an airport staff member sharing an update with passengers through a megaphone, telling them that there is a ‘specialist team inside’.

He says: ‘We do apologise for the inconvenience, we do have a specialist team on site. This is an ongoing incident in Terminal Four.

‘I cannot give any more of an update at the moment as to when you can come back in the building. I do apologise.’

The LFB confirmed that the building has been evacuated ‘as a precaution’, and said they were first called about the incident at 5.01pm.

All other terminals at the airport are currently operating as normal.

Most flights still appear to be going ahead and no delays or cancellations at the terminal have yet been reported.

A statement from Heathrow said: ‘Terminal 4 check-in has been closed and evacuated while emergency services respond to an incident.

‘Please do not travel to Terminal 4, colleagues are supporting passengers on site.

‘We will provide further information as soon as we can, all other terminals are operating as normal.’

Are you at Heathrow Airport and affected by the incident? Get in touch by emailing gergana.krasteva@metro.co.uk

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