Several ill at Joint Base Andrews after package with white powder opened

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — U.S. Air Force emergency vehicles idle during an active shooter exercise at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Nov. 20, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alex Broome via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service - DVIDS)

A suspicious package containing white powder delivered to a U.S. military base in Maryland caused multiple people to fall ill and led to several being hospitalised, CNN reported on Thursday.

A building on the base was evacuated after an individual "opened a suspicious package," CNN said, citing a statement from Joint Base Andrews, located outside Washington, D.C.

"As a precaution, the building and connecting building were evacuated, and a cordon was established around the area," the statement said.

Several people were transported to the Malcolm Grove Medical Center on the base, CNN said. The extent of their illnesses was not known.

Joint Base Andrews is famously known as the home base for Air Force One, the aircraft used to transport the President of the United States.

The package contained an unknown white powder, said CNN, citing two sources familiar with the investigation.

Joint Base Andrews first responders had determined there was no immediate threat and had turned the scene over to the Office of Special Investigations, said CNN.

An initial field test from the HAZMAT team did not detect anything hazardous, but the investigation remains ongoing, added CNN, citing one of the sources familiar with the matter. 

CNN said that the room where the envelope was opened, located in a building that houses the Air National Guard Readiness Center, had been closed.

The U.S. Department of Defense and Joint Base Andrews did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the report

 (Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Michael Perry // REUTERS)