London's Gatwick Airport re-opens its South Terminal after a suspicious package triggers an alert

LONDON (AP) — A security alert at London’s Gatwick Airport delayed dozens of flights and left arriving passengers scrambling for alternative ways to get home after authorities evacuated one terminal and shut the airport train station for more than four hours on Friday.

Authorities evacuated the airport’s south terminal after police were called to investigate a “suspected prohibited item” found in luggage at about 8:20 a.m. Sussex Police said a bomb disposal team made the package safe and two people detained during the investigation were allowed to continue their journeys.

The terminal reopened to passengers and staff at about 3 p.m. (1500 GMT), the airport said in a statement. The airport’s north terminal remained open throughout the day.

About 100,000 passengers were scheduled to fly into and out of Gatwick, Britain’s second-busiest airport, on Friday. But many faced long delays.

Nejadeen Braham, 35, was supposed to fly to Jamaica to pick up her children, but said she couldn’t get into the south terminal.

“I saw everybody coming (out) from one direction,” she said. “I was supposed to go inside, drop my bags and go through security. When I got here, I saw everybody coming down.’’

The security alert at Gatwick was one of two that rattled London on Friday.

A road near the U.S. Embassy was shut down Friday morning as police investigated a suspicious package found in the area. London’s Metropolitan Police Service said it carried out a controlled explosion of what was later determined to be a “hoax device.”

The embassy said it resumed “normal business operations” at about 1 pm. (1300 GMT), although all public appointments were canceled for the day.

At Gatwick, travelers faced long lists of delayed and canceled flights on airport information boards. Outside, long lines of arriving passengers waited for taxis, while others resorted to walking or hitchhiking when they discovered the heavily used airport train station was also closed by the security alert.

The airport advised passengers to contact their airline for update information.

Several carriers, including BA and Norwegian reported delays.

Spanish airline Vueling ordered inbound flights from Barcelona and Seville to turn around and return to their point of departure.

A passenger hitchhikes outside Gatwick airport, where flights have been cancelled and delayed after a "suspected prohibited item" was found in luggage, near Crawley, England, Friday Nov. 22, 2024. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

Passengers stand outside Gatwick airport, where flights have been cancelled and delayed after a "suspected prohibited item" was found in luggage, in Crawley, England, Friday Nov. 22, 2024. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

A passenger hitchhikes at Gatwick airport, where flights have been cancelled and delayed after a "suspected prohibited item" was found in luggage, near Crawley, England, Friday Nov. 22, 2024. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

Passengers walk at Gatwick airport, where flights have been cancelled and delayed after a "suspected prohibited item" was found in luggage, in Crawley, England, Friday Nov. 22, 2024. (Gareth Fuller/via AP)

FILE - Passengers head to departures, at the Gatwick Airport near Crawley, south of London, on July 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)