Flights at the Toronto Island airport were grounded and passengers ordered to evacuate on Saturday when police said a possible explosive device was found near the airport’s ferry terminal.
Police said two people had been detained and were cooperating with the investigation.
Police said they were called shortly before 4 p.m. to the Billy Bishop Airport Continental Ferry Terminal to investigate a suspicious package.
“We are dealing with a potential explosive device,” Toronto police said in a tweet.
Two residential buildings near the ferry terminal were also evacuated and a third partially evacuated.
A secondary airport for Toronto, the facility is located on one of the small islands south of the city center and is not used by planes. Porter Airlines and Air Canada use it for regional flights with turboprop aircraft.
The airport said its runway was closed and two Air Canada flights were diverted to Hamilton, Ontario.
Passengers stranded inside the terminal for several hours said they were being evacuated by water taxis.
“The track is closed at night. Porter has completed his flight schedule for the evening. Two Air Canada flights were diverted to Hamilton. Passengers who remain in the terminal being evacuated at this time. Tunnel/ferry remains closed,” Billy Bishop Airport said in a tweet.
Oct 22 – Check out an important update from Toronto Police Services on a controlled explosion of the device. https://t.co/cYjPZV4X2M
— Billy Bishop Airport (@BBishopAirport) October 23, 2022
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Several roads in the area were closed.
Toronto Mayor John Tory said in a tweet that he knows the area’s closure “has been and continues to be incredibly disruptive to many people, those who live and work in the area and those who travel, and I thank you for your patience.” .
