By BEN NUCKOLS
Associated Press Writer
BALTIMORE- One of two tunnels carrying traffic under Baltimore’s harbor was closed Tuesday and another was partially shut down in response to a security threat, officials said.
The Baltimore Harbor Tunnel was closed while the Fort McHenry Tunnel was partially closed, with one lane of traffic moving in each direction, said Lt. Col. David Franklin of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police. The closures began about 11:30 a.m EDT (1530 GMT).
“We received some information a couple of days ago with a possible threat to a tunnel, nothing specific. We are interviewing people as we speak,” said Carla McIntosh, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Baltimore. She said she could not give details.
Jim Pettit, a spokesman for the governor’s homeland security office, said: “We’re acting out of an abundance of caution.”
A federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the threat was phoned in to authorities by a person claiming to have information from abroad. Authorities are skeptical of the claim, but are checking it out nonetheless, the official said.
Orange dump trucks blocked the entrances to the tunnels, which carry Interstates 95 and 895 under water. As cars and trucks reached the heads of long lines, police officers directed them to detours.
There was a joint federal, state and local security operation under way and Gov. Robert Ehrlich was closely monitoring the situation, said Henry Fawell, a spokesman for the governor. He declined to comment further.
Interstate 95, which uses the Fort McHenry Tunnel, is a key north-south artery through U.S. East Coast states, stretching from Maine to Florida.
Baltimore is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of Washington, D.C.
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Associated Press writer Mark Sherman in Washington contributed to this story.