The BostonChannelPolice Investigate Parachute Reports On DNC Eve
Officers Providing Few Details Of What May Have Been Drill
POSTED: 6:22 a.m. EDT July 26, 2004
UPDATED: 8:04 a.m. EDT July 26, 2004
BOSTON -- State police are still investigating reports that parachutists landed near the FleetCenter Sunday night, but there is little information about what may have been only a security drill.
The FleetCenter is the site of the Democratic National Convention, which begins Monday night.
NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that military police called in reports just after midnight that two parachutists had landed in the yard of the Charles River Park condominium complex. Additional reports indicated there were also parachutists on the top of the Tip O'Neill Federal Building located next door to the FleetCenter.
Before police helicopters arrived, officers on the ground covered the area, sending officers to the roofs of the buildings. SWAT teams went to the top of the federal building. All available state and local officers responded, some with K9 units. Nothing was found and state police said no one was arrested.
Sunday was a busy day for officers patroling the city, harbor and skies around the FleetCenter. On city roads, unscheduled stops were the norm for many truck drivers trying to get through the city's roads and tunnels. On the city's mass transit system, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority was also conducting random searches of commuters, who were advised to travel lightly.
During demonstrations on Beacon Hill Sunday, state police officers were wearing full riot gear, ready for combat. Armed, camouflage-wearing soldiers are patroling the old elevated railway near the FleetCenter in groups of threes, and bike-riding Boston police officers were blanketing the parks.
HIJACKER THREATENED ACID ATTACK
From correspondents in Beijing
July 26, 2004
A MAN with a history of mental illness tried to hijack an Air China plane after it took off from Beijing today, threatening to spray passengers with sulphuric acid.
"Fifty minutes after take off a young man ... claimed that he wanted to hijack the plane and fly to South Korea," the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a statement.
"To ensure the safety of the aeroplane the plane made an emergency landing at Zhengzhou at 9.50am (11.50am AEST). The police took the man off the plane."
According to the Xinhua news agency, the man, Yang Jingsong, 32, claimed he was carrying sulphuric acid and threatened to douse passengers with the liquid if his demands were not met.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10254051%255E1702,00.html
At work bright and early. I'll have to slither in and out of FR since my appointment book was full for this week as of last Thursday. Also, reluctantly preparing my husband and youngest daughter for a trip to Yellowstone. They leave Saturday and will be gone for a week. Real uncomfortable with travel, air travel, and Yellowstone; but, the trip was planned for the last year. Oh, well.