(13 Sep 2012) The consulate of the US Embassy in Berlin was evacuated on Thursday as a precaution after an employee reported a strange smell from an envelope.
Special units wearing gas masks were deployed at the scene to examine the site and a large deployment of police and firefighters could be seen at the consulate.
Police spokesman Stefan Redlich said the smell came from an envelope containing supporting materials for a visa application given to consular employees by the applicant in person.
"The employee who received the documents complained about respiratory tract irritation, and the area has now been hermetically sealed off," Redlich said.
"The man is still inside the consulate, firefighters and Berlin police are here and we have asked for specialists who will now examine whether there is a danger and dangerous substances have been released," he added.
Police experts checked the building to see if any chemical substances or poisonous gases had been released but nothing was found, police spokesman
Michael Merkle later told n-tv television.
The incident came as security was increased at American embassies and consulates around the world on Thursday following an attack that killed the US ambassador in Libya.
President Barack Obama ordered increased security at American missions around the world after Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans
were killed Tuesday in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
That attack was presumed to have been triggered by a provocative American film that depicts the Islamic prophet Muhammad in disrespectful ways, but US officials were also investigating whether it was a terrorist strike planned to mark the 11th anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001.
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