On the final day of Manchester United ‘s season, their home ground Old Trafford was evacuated due to a bomb threat.
The 75,000-person stadium was completely evacuated on Sunday, before Man U’s game with Bournemouth .
Certain wings of the stadium were asked to leave, followed by all. Thousands waited outside as they were told that the game had been ‘delayed by 45 minutes’.
According to one witness, around 40 minutes later they were told that the game had been cancelled.
It was a genuinely surreal afternoon at Old Trafford… We were seated and waiting for kick off when an announcement came over the PA that was largely ignored, asking the security officer to report to the main entrance. Within minutes a second PA was broadcast telling everyone in the north west quadrant (our quadrant) to evacuate. Stewards to gesturing at people to get out and ushering us down the stairs, at the time they said that all they’d been told was that there had been an incident. As I walked from my seat I looked around the stadium and noticed that we were the only ones being evacuated. Once outside we were directed towards the car park where everyone was checking news outlets and phoning friends and family to find out what had happened. At that point it was largely being reported that there was a suspicious package and that there would be a 45 minute delay to kick off. Around us as we stood in the car park were children crying because they wouldn’t be able to see their heroes play today, and tourists who’d travelled thousands of miles to be at the theatre of dreams, only for it to turn into a nightmare. After what felt like 30-40 minutes outside (i wasn’t looking at times) the announcement was made that the match was abandoned. Subsequently it has come to light that the threat was an incredibly realistic hoax, and that it was apparently a matter of feet away from our seats in tier 2 of the north west quadrant. I know it was a hoax, but it could have been so much worse. Massive respect to the ladies and gentlemen of Manchester United, Greater Manchester Police, Fire and Ambulance services, and the armed forces who were on hand and putting themselves in potential danger to ensure that the public and the fans were not in any. Today, football didn’t matter. #Manchester #United #MUFC #OldTrafford #ThankYou
A photo posted by @thenewbreed83 on May 15, 2016 at 1:59pm PDT
Four hours later, Greater Manchester Police released the statement saying that the bomb, while incredibly deceiving, was not “a viable device”.
It’s the first ever Premier League game to be postponed due to a bomb threat.
On Wednesday an announcement was made by the British government, saying the nation’s threat level was being raised due to intelligence indicating the strong possibility of attacks from the IRA .
The game has been rescheduled for Tuesday.
