Atlanta airport evacuated after discovery of 'suspicious package'

Passengers were later allowed to return to the terminals after a bomb squad investigated the incident

Officials at Atlanta's airport said they were taking the step out of an abundance of caution (Reuters)

Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport was evacuated after a suspicious package was found - an incident that underscored the mounting anxiety in the US after the attacks in Paris and Brussels.

The aiport announced on its official Twitter feed on Wednesday morning that the public areas of the domestic terminal were being evacuated. It later said the matter had been dealt with and that people were being allowed to the terminal areas.

Airport officials told local ABC that the suspicious package was found in the south baggage claim area, and that an explosives team was dispatched. According to the airport, there was little impact on its operations.

The US has been on a heightened alert since the deadly terrorist attacks in Brussels that killed at least 30 people.

The airport later posted a subsequent message on Twitter saying that the "incident had been cleared" and people were returning to the areas from where they had been evacuated.

A TSA agent had told CBS that the concern was “serious enough to evacuate the whole building”.