Beehive evacuation a false alarm
UPDATED: Alarm sounded in parliament mailroom, robot dispatched - false alarm declared.
UPDATED: Alarm sounded in parliament mailroom, robot dispatched - false alarm declared.
UPDATED 1:27pm: The bomb squad arrived at parliament, and dispatched a robot into the parliamentary mailroom. Following their investigation, the alarm was declared false.
Wellington's parliamentary complex has been evacuated after a suspicious package was discovered in the Beehive mailroom.
Police were alerted late this morning and were at the scene with parliamentary security.
The Beehive and Bowen House were evacuated in January after a suitcase was found on Bowen St, between Lambton Quay and The Terrace, by a security guard on a routine check.
Then, cordons were put in place around Bowen St, The Terrace, Lambton Quay, Molesworth St and Kate Sheppard Place while specialist police, the army's bomb squad and the joint forces explosives group were called in. A small explosive was detonated but the suitcase contained clothes and personal items.
The January incident was the second time in eight months that Parliament had been evacuated in a bomb scare.