Suspicious powder delays flights at Swedish airport

HELSINKI (AP) - Skavsta Airport in southeastern Sweden was partially evacuated Sunday and flights were delayed when security staff found what they believed was suspicious powder after a passenger had checked in luggage, airport officials said.

The check-in area and baggage hall of the departure terminal were evacuated, delaying four flights by several hours while police and a bomb squad investigated the bag, airport spokesman Joakim Lindholm said. "It appears they found nothing," he said, after the airport was declared safe.

Lindholm said police had ended their investigation after studying the bag and questioning its owner - "an elderly lady who had fully cooperated with them."

Police couldn't immediately be contacted for confirmation.

Arriving flights weren't affected by the incident but some delays on Sunday's six remaining European departures were expected, Lindholm said.

Last year, the airport which serves European destinations, served around 1.7 million passengers. It is located 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of the capital, Stockholm.