Border crossing reopens after bomb scare
BLAINE, Wash. -- Canadian officials closed the Peace Arch border crossing at Blaine Sunday night after a woman who was denied entry to the United States claimed she had something suspicious in a bag.
Traffic was diverted to the Pacific Highway crossing about a mile away in northwest Washington, and to the crossings at Lynden and Sumas farther to the east.
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police bomb squad was called to the scene and gave the all-clear about 12:30 a.m. Monday. The crossing reopened about 12:45 a.m.
Inspector Derren Lench, RCMP watch commander in Surrey, British Columbia, said nothing amiss was found in the bag.
The woman tried to enter the United States but was turned back to Canada and, apparently angered, told a Canadian border officer that she had something suspicious in a bag, Lench said.
Further details about the woman and why she was denied entry to the U.S. were not available.
Blaine is 100 miles north of Seattle, and the Peace Arch crossing is the busiest west of Detroit, Mich., and Windsor, Ontario, on the U.S.-Canadian border.
Traffic was diverted to the Pacific Highway crossing about a mile away in northwest Washington, and to the crossings at Lynden and Sumas farther to the east.
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police bomb squad was called to the scene and gave the all-clear about 12:30 a.m. Monday. The crossing reopened about 12:45 a.m.
Inspector Derren Lench, RCMP watch commander in Surrey, British Columbia, said nothing amiss was found in the bag.
The woman tried to enter the United States but was turned back to Canada and, apparently angered, told a Canadian border officer that she had something suspicious in a bag, Lench said.
Further details about the woman and why she was denied entry to the U.S. were not available.
Blaine is 100 miles north of Seattle, and the Peace Arch crossing is the busiest west of Detroit, Mich., and Windsor, Ontario, on the U.S.-Canadian border.