(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Thousands of passengers had flights in and out of London cancelled or diverted yesterday after an unexploded World War II bomb was found under water near City Airport.
The airport was closed for the whole day, leading to about 300 arrivals and departures being cancelled, with about 9,000 passengers affected. It came after the discovery of a '500kg fused device in King George V Dock, next to the airport, at about 5am on Sunday. The Met police decided to impose a 700ft security cordon at 10pm, forcing the airport's closure and requiring officers and Newham council to evacuate residents within the exclusion zone. The council was providing them with emergency accommodation.
The evacuation continued yesterday ahead of the arrival of a Royal Navy team who will attempt to disable and remove the bomb.
The airport said it 'hopes to reopen today but Newham council said the operation to remove the bomb 'is expected to continue until Tuesday morning.
Newham said officers were assisting with a controlled evacuation of residents in seven streets: Holt Road, Leonard Street, Lord Street, Newland Street, Tate Road, Muir Street and Kennard Street. Some residents refused to leave their homes. Others went to stay with friends or family.
The council said: 'Work will not start on lifting and removing the device until the initial 214-metre zone is clear. When work starts to remove it, it is expected the exclusion zone will be extended to 250 metres and more properties will need to be evacuated. Passengers were advised to contact their airlines. CityJet flights were flying in and out of Southend, while Alitalia was diverting to Stansted.
However, confusion was caused by City Airport's website yesterday morning as it claimed flights were arriving and departing 'on time.
The bomb was discovered by construction workers 11m under water in the dock, just south of the eastern side of the airport terminal. A series of road closures were put in place. Passengers were unable to remove vehicles from the airport car parks.
Docklands Light Railway services between the airport and Woolwich Arsenal were suspended. Robert Sinclair, chief executive of London City Airport, said: 'All flights in and out of London City yesterday were cancelled and an exclusion zone is in place. I urge any passengers due to fly to contact their airline for further information. 'I recognise this is causing inconvenience for our passengers, and in particular some of our local residents.
Airlines using London City Airport include British Airways, Flybe, CityJet, KLM and Lufthansa. The airport is a favourite of business travellers and is undergoing a £400mn expansion so it can welcome an extra 2mn passengers a year by 2025.
It is currently the 14th busiest airport in the UK with 4,540,000 passengers last year, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.
The Met said a decision was made with the Navy to implement the exclusion zone 'to ensure that the ordnance can be safely dealt with while limiting any risk to the public.
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