Manchester Airport: Naked man sparks evacuations as bomb squads carry out controlled explosion on ‘suspicious package’

‘All hell has broken loose’, worker says as police evacuate airport train station

A naked man was seen running in and out of Manchester Airport buildings on Monday morning before police evacuated the coach and train station while bomb disposal squads carried out a controlled explosion on a “suspicious package”.

The incident has sparked travel chaos with long queues on roads, and passengers and cabin crews have struggled to reach the departure terminal.

Flights have so-far remained unaffected by the incident.

“Officers are currently responding to reports of a suspicious package at Manchester Airport transport interchange,” Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said in a statement.

“Further enquiries are being carried out and bomb disposal officers are on their way to assist with these enquiries.

“A man has been detained by police at the scene.

“A cordon is in place at Manchester Airport transport interchange and people are encouraged to follow directions from officers.”

“Trams, trains and buses are currently suspended to and from the airport interchange.”

In a later statement the force added: “Bomb disposal officers are at Manchester Airport transport interchange to assist GMP with enquiries.

“As part of their assessment to ensure the package is safe, a controlled explosion took place.

“The cordon will remain in place as a precautionary measure as enquiries continue.”

As parts of the airport coach station was cordoned off, a coach driver reported seeing a naked man running in and out of the building.

Caroline Watson told the Manchester Evening News: “Some of the air cabin crew that park there have been turned away. It is like a mass exodus. All hell has broken loose.

“The guy was running around with his arms waving in the air, going up and down.

“He was running back and forth. He was going in and out of the terminus.

“He had no clothing on whatsoever. It is not what you expect to see at 6.10am on a Monday morning.”

A spokesperson for Manchester Airport told The Independent that despite the evacuations of the train and coach stations and road closures, flights are unaffected. Though there were reports of passengers and cabin crew struggling to reach planes, there have been no cancellations or delays to flights, they said.