A Washington area airport ordered a partial evacuation on Saturday after security personnel raised an alarm about a bag that had passed through security screening, an airport spokeswoman said.
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The Baltimore/Washington International Airport took the precautionary action in the morning after federal authorities' suspicions were raised about a bag in a checked-luggage area, Cheryl Stewart, an airport spokeswoman, said.
Asked what had made the Transportation Security Administration staff suspicious, she said, "They just don't like the way it looks."
The evacuation affected five passenger gates near the checked-luggage area behind closed doors where the suspect bag was awaiting transfer to a plane cargo hold.
A Maryland Transportation Authority Police bomb squad has been called to the scene but has not yet arrived, Stewart said.
The spokeswoman said it was too early to say how many people were evacuated and how the incident was affecting air traffic.