Stadium Evacuated after Reports of Suspicious Package

• By Sydny Shepard
• May 16, 2016

Manchester United’s home stadium was evacuated on Sunday, May 15, after security found what looked to be an “incredibly lifelike” device on the property. The announcement was met with boos as the authorities cancelled the match against Bournemouth to investigate.

The decision to cancel the game started when a suspicious device was found in a toilet in the northwest corner of one of the stands, police said. Fans sitting on the opposite side of the stadium were initially allowed to stay in their seats, but were later asked to evacuate. Once fans were gone, security did a sweep of the entire 75,635-seat venue.

Hours later bomb technicians reported that the device was a fake. A statement provided police revealed that the fake bomb had been left behind during a routine training exercise involving bomb sniffing dogs.

The scare comes just as Premier League stadiums have tightened security in the midst of the attacks on Paris and Belgium. It has also follow the British government’s announcement that it was raising the nation’s threat level due to intelligence indicating the “strong possibility” of attacks in Britain by factions of the outlawed Irish Republican Army.