The owner of the bag turned out to be a doctoral student at Hong Kong University, who was participating in a program at UMass-Amherst. The mud was apparently part of her research.
A passenger prepares for a full-body scanner at Logan International Airport in Boston while TSA agent oversee the process in this file photo from November.BOSTON - A college researcher bound for the University of Massachusetts at Amherst inadvertently caused a hazardous-materials emergency at Logan Airport Tuesday afternoon when a baggage check revealed a container of an unknown substance that turned out to be a mud sample from halfway around the world, officials said.
The discovery prompted state police at the airport to close down two gates at the American Airlines terminal for more than an hour as a precaution.
State police were notified by officials with the federal Transport Security Administration that a checked bag tested positive for nitrates, a common ingredient in homemade bombs.
State police were assisted at the scene by officials with TSA, the FBI, and the Boston and MassPort fire departments.
A check of the bag revealed a contained with a substance later identified as a sample of mud taken from a river bank in Hong Kong.
The owner of the bag turned out to be a doctoral student at Hong Kong University, who was participating in a program at UMass-Amherst. The mud was apparently part of her research.
The student’s name was not disclosed.