By Candice Boyle
TRAFFIC in central Footscray was disrupted when more than 400 people were evacuated onto the streets in response to a bomb hoax last week.
A suspicious package was left outside the Saltwater Clinic on the corner of Albert and Paisley streets on Friday morning.
Police were called to the mental health facility just before 11.30am when staff members discovered the suspicious package outside the clinic.
Footscray Police Sergeant John O’Halloran said police assisted with the evacuation of 50 people from the four-storey building and a further 400 from three major businesses in the surrounding area.
“We cordoned off an area of Albert St to French St and part of Paisley St and called the bomb response team,” he said.
Sgt O’Halloran said the bomb response team deployed its bomb detector robot to test the suspicious package.
The team carried out an X-ray on the package, which was found to contain a clock rigged with wires, but no explosives.
Sgt O’Halloran praised Saltwater Clinic staff for their quick response to the incident.
“The staff at the clinic did a great job and everyone who was evacuated was reasonably well behaved,” he said.
Sgt O’Halloran said while bomb threats were not uncommon, suspicious packages were relatively rare.
“When you get a package you have got no other option than to treat it as a bomb,” he said.
Police said a staff member saw a burning tea light candle left on top of the package outside the glass doors of the clinic.
“One of the staff members saw this and immediately went out and blew out the candle and advised senior staff,” Sgt O’Halloran said.
A 55-year-old Point Cook woman, who is known to staff at the clinic, is helping police with their investigations.
