Australia: Bomb threat at DFAT in Canberra

[webfact]

Bomb threat at Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Staff reporters

CANBERRA: -- Staff at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have been evacuated and the bomb squad are on site after a suspicious package was found in a staff canteen on Tuesday afternoon.

Hundreds of public servants have been forced out of their offices and police have blocked traffic on the city's central State Circle.

DFAT have been evacuated and the bomb squad is on site after a suspicious package was found in a staff canteen. pic.twitter.com/4XAkoNMA41 — James Massola (@jamesmassola) December 16, 2014
The DFAT building is in close proximity to Parliament House and the canteen area is on the ground floor and open to the public.

The evacuated staff have been asked to move back to 100 metres away from the building and police set an exclusion zone around the building.

A childcare centre is also attached to the building. Its staff and children, including babies, have also been evacuated and are now waiting in a nearby church.

The R. G. Casey Building in Barton is the department's head office.

About 2780 DFAT staff work in Canberra though not all of them are based at the evacuated site.

Full story: http://www.theage.com.au/act-news/bomb-threat-at-department-of-foreign-affairs-and-trade-20141216-128aam.html


-- The Age 2014-12-16