Police, firefighters and a medical crew rushed to the US Embassy in Malaysia yesterday after the building received an envelope containing a suspicious powder, officials said.
Three embassy staff members who had been exposed to the yellowish substance were temporarily quarantined as a precaution, but a medical checkup indicated none of them were in any danger, said district police official Aman Hussain.
The powder was being sent for laboratory tests to determine whether it might contain anthrax spores or other toxins, Aman told reporters.
It was the second such scare involving a US mission in Asia in less than a week. The US Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka, was closed last Tuesday after it received mail containing a suspicious powdery substance, but tests found it to be harmless.
Frank Whitaker, the US Embassy's spokesman in Kuala Lumpur, said a staff member opened the envelope yesterday morning and discovered the unidentified substance.
A team from the Fire Department's Hazardous Materials unit was called to inspect the letter, Whitaker said. The embassy remained open and operations have resumed normally, he said.
Whitaker said the envelope was addressed to the embassy, but declined to say whether it had been mailed or dropped off there. He also declined to say if the envelope was addressed to anyone specific, or if there was a letter inside.
Security at most embassies in Malaysia was bolstered after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the US. There has been a series of security scares since then.
In late 2001, some US Embassy staff were given antibiotics as a precaution after their offices received letters containing suspicious powder. In 2002, the embassy was closed briefly because of a truck bomb scare.
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