A panicked stampede cleared a terminal at Newark International Airport on Monday night after an Alaska Airlines employee screamed “evacuate” after determining two men were suspicious.
WPIX reports: “The flight attendant had been talking with two men at Gate 30 around 8:30 p.m., a police official said. They said something that concerned the attendant, who hit an alarm button and told people to evacuate.”
Said one employee to the station: “”Imagine you’re starting to board and a frazzled flight attendant comes off the plane, stops the process, asks someone to call the police, then starts yelling (with increasing loudness) ‘evacuate!’ I ran with the crowds, hid under some seats, looked for an exit, headed out to the tarmac,” the passenger added. “Sounded like gun shots but after seeing the damage in this terminal, it’s more likely it was glass being shattered from people jumping. Terrifying.”
WPIX adds: “The two men who concerned the flight attendant were identified and questioned by the Port Authority Police Department. They were released and no charges were filed. Police also questioned the flight attendant.”
Videos posted to social media show the chaos.
