Amsterdam airport partly evacuated, man arrested after alert

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Police officers at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on April 12, 2016.-AFP Photo

Police officers at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport on April 12, 2016.-AFP Photo

Heavily armed military police sealed off part of Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport for hours Tuesday night after arresting a man for unspecified suspicious behavior and summoning explosives experts to check his luggage.

Police in body armor and ski masks brandishing machine guns patrolled the airport for four hours while the investigation was under way, stranding scores of passengers who could not get to their parked cars because parts of the airport were sealed off.

Flights at the busy aviation hub appeared largely unaffected by the security scare and trains to the airport’s station continued running throughout the security scare.

In the early hours of Wednesday, military police spokesman Alfred Ellwanger told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that “no dangerous materials were found” in the arrested suspect’s luggage and the tight security measures were lifted.

Ellwanger said the man who was arrested remained in custody and under investigation. He had no details on the man’s identity. He said the arrest followed “a report of a suspicious situation,” but didn’t elaborate.

The Netherlands has been on high alert since the deadly suicide bombing attacks on Brussels airport and subway last month in neighboring Belgium.