London airport emergency: Heathrow terminal 4 to reopen after evacuation

Heathrow Airport in London “closed and evacuated" the check-in area of Terminal 4 on Monday evening in response to what authorities described as an “incident," AFP reported. The airport’s operator announced the decision on social media, stating that emergency services were on-site managing the situation.

The London Fire Brigade later confirmed it was responding to a “possible hazardous materials incident," according to a statement cited by the BBC. “Specialist crews have been deployed to carry out an assessment of the scene, and part of the airport has been evacuated as a precaution whilst firefighters respond," the fire brigade said.

Heathrow, the United Kingdom’s main international gateway and one of the world’s busiest air travel hubs, advised passengers to avoid traveling to Terminal 4 until further notice. The UK’s National Rail also issued an update on X (formerly Twitter), stating that its trains were “unable to call" at Terminal 4, located southwest of London, due to the incident.