Several passengers have been left in the dark about the fate of their flights after the airport was suddenly evacuated – with police and a bomb squad called to the scene
Gatwick Airport evacuated after security incident
Gatwick Airport has been put under lockdown with hundreds of passengers evacuated following a “security incident” – attended by armed police and a bomb sqaud.
Staff abruptly told passengers shortly after 10am “We’re evacuating. You’ve got to leave” as firearms officers stood guarding the security area following the discovery of a “suspected prohibited item in luggage”.
An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team has been deployed to the airport, and a security cordon remains in place whilst the matter is being dealt with, Sussex Police said.
The official Gatwick Express account on X told users: “Gatwick Airport will not be served until further notice. This is due to the Police and emergency services dealing with an incident at the airport.”
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Several passengers appear to have been left in the dark about the fate of their journeys, with one taking to X to announce: “Gatwick airport evacuation today 10:27am. All flights delayed.”
Another baffled user wrote: “We were just made to leave the security area. No one is guiding us as to where to go outside. Total mayhem”, adding: “Airport evacuated no one showing us where to go to.”
One traveller said: “Whole of Gatwick south terminal being evacuated right now after huge delays at security. Looks like they are only evacuating the main terminal and pushing people to the gates. Is it a suspect package? Police told me it was a security incident earlier that led to big Q.”
A Sussex Police spokesperson said: “Police were called to the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport at 8.20am on Friday (22 November) following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage.
“As a precaution, the South Terminal has been evacuated to ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users while the matter is dealt with. This is causing significant disruption. Please contact Gatwick Airport press office for further information.”
The force later added: “To ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users, a security cordon has been put in place whilst the matter is dealt with. As a precaution, an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team is being deployed to the airport.
“This is causing significant disruption and some roads around the South Terminal have been closed. We’d advise the public to avoid the area where possible. Please contact Gatwick Airport press office (01293 505000) for further information.”
Videos taken from outside the airport show a sea of confused travellers being ushered away from the site to an unknown location.
In a short tweet released this morning, Gatwick Airport said: “A large part of the South Terminal has been evacuated as a precaution while we continue to investigate a security incident. Passengers will not be able to enter the South Terminal while this is ongoing.
“Safety and security of our passengers and staff remains our top priority. We are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
A number of rail services have also announced they will not be stopping at Gatwick Airport. This includes Southern Rail, Gatwick Express and Thameslink. Train passenger information website National Rail Enquiries said: “The police are dealing with an incident at Gatwick airport.
“The station and airport are currently being evacuated. Services are able to run through the station and area but will not call at Gatwick airport at this time. Please avoid travelling to the station whilst this incident is ongoing. This is expected to continue until approximately 2pm.”
The Mirror’s Jennifer Newton was at Gatwick Airport when staff announced it was being evacuated, and said workers told passengers “you’ve got to leave” as armed police stood guarding the security area.
Jennifer said: “I arrived at the airport this morning at around 9:45am, and when I got there, I could tell something wasn’t quite right because they weren’t allowing people to go over to security in the normal way. They put us in a massive queue.
“It was moving slowly, and at that point they said there had been a security incident. Part of the security area was closed, so they were leading people to a different area.
“Then I was in the queue for around half an hour and I had just got to the point where you’re about to go through security and they said ‘We’re evacuating. Everyone, you’ve got to leave.’
“But before that, I had a feeling something wasn’t right because I could see two armed police officers standing near the queue. They were on a radio looking at each other.”
Travellers say the area has since descended into chaos as hundreds of people have been forced to wait oustide the building in “freezing” conditions. Jennifer, who has been waiting outside for more than 30 minutes, said passengers haven’t been given any updates but were told to move further back from the terminal building due to the “sheer amount of people” and heaving crowds.
She later said crowds were moved into the bottom of the multi-storey car park where bus and coach stops are, but were not given any further information.
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