US Embassy evacuated in Stockholm

October 17, 2012 | Modified: October 17, 2012 at 9:17 am
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ADDING TO IDENTIFY AND NAME US AMBASSADOR - U.S. Ambassador to Stockholm, Mark Francis Brzezinski, centre, makes thumbs up gesture towards Swedish police and emergency workers arriving at the US embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday Oct. 17, 2012, to investigate a suspicious package. Police say the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm has been evacuated because of a letter with "unknown content" Stockholm police spokeswoman Tove Hagg said Wednesday and media reports refer to the package as a letter containing "an unidentified white powder". (AP photo / Scanpix Sweden / Claudio Bresciani) SWEDEN OUT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The U.S. Embassy in Stockholm was evacuated Wednesday after receiving a letter containing an unknown substance, police said.

Bomb disposal experts were sent to the embassy to remove the letter and analyze its contents. Streets around the embassy were closed but reopened after police had removed the letter.

Police declined to give details on the content but police spokesman Daniel Granstrom told Swedish tabloid Expressen it contained some kind of "powder."

Asked if the substance was dangerous, he said "it may have been dangerous, but it's not dangerous now."

Embassy spokesman Jeff Andersen said the embassy was evacuated and that officials were investigating "a possible security incident" together with Swedish authorities but declined to give other details.