The Apple store in Birmingham, England, was temporarily evacuated today after a package that employees feared might contain an explosive was delivered.
Visitors were removed from the recently opened store and police cordoned off a section of the shopping area in which the retail outlet is located. Trains were also temporarily affected due to their proximity.
“The store has been evacuated as a precaution while specialist officers examine the package,” West Midlands Police said. In the end, authorities decided the suspicious packaged presented no risk and the store reopened.
Europe is on high alert after Monday’s horrific terrorist attack in Berlin, in which a truck driven by an unknown assailant plowed through a Christmas marketplace, killing 12 and injuring 48.
German authorities are searching for a Tunisian asylum seeker (and alleged ISIS supporter) who is believed to have carried out the attack.
Previous Apple bomb scares
This isn’t the first time Apple has been affected by bomb scares. Last December, the Apple store in Tokyo’s upmarket Ginza district had to be evacuated and a promotional event canceled after a bomb threat.
Earlier this year, Apple evacuated 4,000 staffers at several of its offices in Cork, Ireland, after receiving an online bomb threat.
Fortunately all of these cases — including today’s — have turned out to be false alarms.
The Birmingham location is one of the U.K.’s most historic and attractive Apple stores. Constructed in 1879 as a bank, it opened as an Apple store in September.
Source: The Sun
