Powder letter Oude Boteringestraat 42 was not dangerous

On Thursday morning, Oude Boteringestraat 42, 44 and 46 were evacuated because a suspect package was found on the ground floor of no. 42. It turned out to be a letter containing powder, addressed to the Groningen Confucius Institute (GCI), an independent foundation that rents part of this UG building. Three staff members were in their office at the time and had to stay inside for the duration of the investigation.

After extensive examination of the letter, the powder turned out to be innocent. After a thorough investigation of the buildings, the police were able to give the all clear for the three buildings again at 1 p.m., which meant the situation was safe. The University will be open as usual on Friday.

President of the Board Jouke de Vries: ‘It goes without saying that it gave us a quite a scare. I find what happened very upsetting. I am glad to see that the three GCI staff members are all right and that the Office of the University staff can go back to work.’