Nation’s capital on edge: Inauguration rehearsal is dramatically evacuated due to ‘external security threat’ that turns out to be a fire under a bridge – amid fears of an imminent ‘insider attack’
- A fire under a by-pass near the Capitol building produced huge plumes of smoke
- It sent the nearby rehearsal into a panic and staffers ran for their lives
- A loudspeaker announcement played warning people to evacuate
- Staffers in nearby buildings were told to stay away from windows too
- The fire department later tweeted that the smoke came from beneath a bridge
- No one was injured
A rehearsal for the inauguration had to be called off and everyone in attendance evacuated on Monday morning due to an ‘external security threat’ that turned out to be nothing more than a fire beneath a nearby bridge.
Staffers ran from bleachers that were set up ahead of Wednesday’s event while an evacuation warning played in the background.
Staffers were also sent text messages telling them to stay away from windows.
It came amid growing fears of an insider attack on the event and while the nation still reels from the Capitol Building riot on January 6.
The fire department tweeted shortly before 11am that no one was injured and that the smoke was coming from a nearby fire on H Street South East.
Photographs from the scene show what appears to be debris under the bridge ablaze.
People evacuate from the West Front of the U.S. Capitol during a rehearsal the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021
People evacuate from the West Front of the U.S. Capitol during a rehearsal the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021
Members of the military band evacuate from the West Front of the U.S. Capitol due to a security threat
