Boston Poice hazmat teams were dispatched to five area hospitals
today after the institutions reported receiving "suspicious looking
letters," police blog and tweet.The
affected hospitals are: Beth Israel Deaconess, New England Medical
Center, Brigham and Women's, Boston Medical Center and New England
Baptist Hospital."Preliminary investigation shows no signs of hazards
on Hospital letters," Police tweet. "Hoax suspected, investigation ongoing."
Police
tell me that what we're talking about here is letters in envelopes, not
packages, and that in each case it was "just a suspicious letter, no
indications that it was hazardous."
Update 4:25 p.m.
Boston police report:
At
present, it appears that the envelopes received at the five locations
were sent from a single source. There are no specific threats in or on
the envelopes and no white powder has been detected. The sender appears
to be a zealous advocate for patient’s rights and makes statements
critical of the care provided by these hospitals. This investigation is
ongoing and, at this time, there is no biological threat.
During
the course of the investigation, no evacuations occurred at any of the
locations and hospital service was never interrupted.