Cartoon causes Boston scare
Many roads were closed because of the bomb scare
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Thursday, 01, Feb 2007 06:57
Boston residents were subjected to one of the biggest scares since 9/11 yesterday.
A marketing campaign for a late-night cartoon on US broadcaster Turner Broadcasting caused the panic, which took place after 11 portable billboards containing electronic lights were placed in spots around the city.
The billboards were mistaken as bombs by the police. This prompted the shutdown of bridges, train lines and major roads throughout the city, as well as the deployment of additional police forces to battle the apparent threat.
A bomb squad was deployed to deal with the situation and one of the billboards was blown up to ensure it did not pose a threat.
"We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose and danger," said Turner Broadcasting, a division of Time Warner, which later advised police of all the locations of its advertisements. It said in a statement that the "packages" were actually magnetic lights and were no danger.
The company also told media that the marketing campaign had been in place for two to three weeks in ten cities, including Boston, around the US.
However, the company's apologies may not be enough for authorities in the city of Boston. The city's police commissioner has already advised media that the incident took up a considerable amount of the city's resources.
There has been much speculation that the city may take action against Turner Broadcasting and its advertising agency to recover the cost.
It has also been reported that the man employed to place the suspicious packages around the city has been arrested on charges of placing hoax devices.