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A bomb found at an ethanol plant in Peoria, Illinois, forces evacuations across a one-mile zone before it is made safe
Developing
- What happened
- Peoria police ordered everyone within a mile of the BioUrja Renewables ethanol plant to leave on Friday after a bomb was found there, The Guardian reports.
- Why it matters
- Officials stress it was a real device, not a hoax, and the FBI has opened an investigation on a day already marked by the US ground stop and the New Orleans boat crash.
- What’s next
- Investigators are searching the large site for other devices; evacuations in East Peoria stayed in place pending an update on Saturday morning.
Full story
A real device
Residents of parts of Peoria, Illinois, and the neighbouring city of East Peoria were ordered to evacuate on Friday after a bomb was found at BioUrja Renewables, a plant that produces ethanol and alcohol, The Guardian reported. The mandatory evacuation covered a one-mile zone around the site.
“It is real – this is a real thing. We know that is a real threat. We know it is a bomb.”
Rita Ali, mayor of Peoria, The Guardian World
Ali was speaking to the local outlet WMBD, The Guardian said. At a news conference early on Saturday, Peoria’s police chief, Brad Dixon, said bomb technicians had made the device safe.
Searching for more
Dixon asked the public for patience while investigators searched the plant’s large site for other explosive devices, The Guardian reported, citing the Peoria outlet WEEK. Ryan Presley, who runs the FBI field office in Springfield, about an hour away, said agents would pursue whoever was responsible “tirelessly” and “bring them to justice”. The state senator Dave Koehler told the same news conference: “This is not a hoax. This has gone beyond that.”
Peoria police first announced at about 7.05pm local time on Friday that officers were investigating a reported bomb threat at the plant, and urged anyone living or working within a mile to leave their homes and businesses immediately. Officials first described the object as a suspicious package, and said the order was issued “out of an abundance of caution”. The city opened Manual Academy, a school, as a temporary shelter.
A tense day
East Peoria’s government said the evacuation zone reached into part of the city and that all evacuations there would stay in place until an update expected at about 9am local time on Saturday. No arrest or motive has been reported.
The discovery came on a chaotic day in the United States, The Guardian noted. A nationwide ground stop ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration lasted about four hours and cancelled or delayed more than 11,000 flights, and in New Orleans a tanker struck a docked cruise boat on the Mississippi, injuring more than 30 people, none of them critically.
