Several people fell ill after opening a “suspicious package” delivered to Air Force One.
A spokesman for Joint Base Andrews (JBA) in Maryland, near the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C., said the building where the package was opened had been evacuated and the sick people were determined to be in stable condition by medical personnel.
The bag contained an unidentified white powder, CNN reports, citing unnamed sources familiar with the investigation into the incident.
The air base is home to the US presidential aircraft and its support vessels, and is where the president usually travels from.
A JBA spokesman said the building where the package was opened and an adjacent building were evacuated “as a precaution” and a cordon was set up around the area.
They added: “First responders were dispatched to the scene and determined there was no immediate threat and normal operations resumed. The investigation is currently ongoing.”
According to CNN, initial tests conducted by the Hazmat team did not reveal anything dangerous.
Investigators are also reportedly assessing political propaganda included in the package.
It is unclear how severely or the nature of the illness affected those near the package when it was opened.
