A politician has admitted "we cannot guarantee safety" after a bomb was found at a fuel plant in Peoria, Illinois, prompting a one-mile evacuation radius.
Emergency services rushed to the BioUrja Renewables facility following reports of a suspicious package at around 2.15pm on Friday (8.15pm in the UK). Local police issued an urgent evacuation order shortly after 7pm local time, triggering a series of late-night briefings.
Politician and Mayor speak out
In a clip shared on X, Eric Sorensen, the Democrat Representative for Illinois's 17th Congressional District, admitted: "We cannot guarantee the safety of the city of Peoria right now."
Rita Ali, Peoria Mayor, told local media: "A device has been identified, we known it's a credible threat, we know it's a bomb."
Evacuation and impact
Police established a one-mile evacuation radius around the facility, stretching both sides of the Illinois River. Local roads have also been shut, impacting local events such as the Peoria Chiefs' holiday light show and country singer Jon Pardi's concert.
The Peoria police chief, Brad Dixon, said: "Nationally, when a bomb threat comes in, typically, it’s not legitimate and they’re doing it to cause an evacuation of a building or something like that. This is not the case here. We found a credible package that we deem to be a threat."
Peoria, a city of around 110,000 residents, is located in central Illinois. The BioUrja Renewables site is a major chemical manufacturing facility located on an industrial riverside complex.
FAA ground stop
The bomb threat came as all US flights were stopped by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday. The ground stop has since been lifted, but massive travel disruptions are continuing.
All departing domestic flights were stopped for roughly four to five hours. It impacted major airlines, including Delta, United, American, and Southwest.
According to aviation experts, this was the longest and most severe nationwide flight shutdown since 9/11. Officials have blamed a major telecommunications outage that reportedly overloaded air traffic control communication equipment.
Data shows that over 15,000 flights were delayed or cancelled on Friday. Meanwhile, a further 2,000 flights have already been cancelled on Saturday.
International air travel has already been impacted, including US-bound flights from the UK. Travellers should expect cancellations and delays on Saturday.
