- Title: TURKEY-CONSULATE/POWDER Suspect powder sent to Hungarian consulate in Istanbul
- Date: 27th October 2014
- Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (OCTOBER 27, 2014) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EXTERIORS OF BUILDING WHERE THE HUNGARIAN CONSULATE IS LOCATED VARIOUS OF TURKISH DISASTER MANAGEMENT AGENCY (AFAD) VANS AND AMBULANCES PARKED OUTSIDE AFAD VAN VARIOUS OF AFAD WORKERS NEXT TO VAN VARIOUS OF AFAD WORKERS LOADING BOXES INTO VANS POLICE VANS PARKED OUTSIDE THE CONSULATE BUILDING MORE OF BOXES BEING LOADED INTO VAN AFAD WORKERS GETTING INTO VAN MASKED CONSULATE WORKERS EXPOSED TO POWDER GETTING INTO VAN ANKARA, TURKEY (OCTOBER 27, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LABORATORY EXTERIOR WHERE TESTS ON YELLOW POWDER ARE CARRIED OUT
- Embargoed: 11th November 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVADVAHZTBE5C6P1JIP4IJWMF883
- Story Text: Hungary's consulate in Istanbul received packets of an unidentified yellow powder on Monday (October 27), the city governor's office said, after similar envelopes sent to five Western consulates in Turkey's largest city last week prompted security alerts.
The consulates of the United States, Canada, France, Germany and Belgium have also received suspicious packages containing powder. Sixteen people from three of those missions were hospitalised as a precaution.
The package at the Hungarian consulate is believed to have been sent at the same time as the others but was not opened until Monday morning as the mission was unstaffed over the weekend, the governor's office said.
The results of tests conducted on the other packages have yet to be released but Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu told the Hurriyet newspaper that the powder was not anthrax.
The minister was also quoted as saying that if the results of a fourth and final set of tests proved negative, the powder would be treated as non-harmful. He said the results were likely to be released later on Monday.
Ten of those hospitalised last week were from the Canadian consulate. Canadian diplomatic missions overseas have been on heightened alert since two separate militant attacks last week in the capital Ottawa and in Quebec.
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