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CIA 'inadvertently' left explosive training material under school bus | CIA 'inadvertently' left explosive training material under school bus |
(about 1 hour later) | |
The CIA has admitted to accidentally leaving “explosive training material” under the hood of a Northern Virginia school bus for more than a week last month, remnants of a training exercise that remained undetected as the bus ferried public school students over a distance of 145 miles over the course of two days. | The CIA has admitted to accidentally leaving “explosive training material” under the hood of a Northern Virginia school bus for more than a week last month, remnants of a training exercise that remained undetected as the bus ferried public school students over a distance of 145 miles over the course of two days. |
The agency inadvertently left an unknown quantity of the explosive under the hood of a Loudoun County Public Schools bus after using the vehicle in a training program last week, while the district’s students were on spring break. According to a statement released by the CIA, “explosive training material was inadvertently left by the CIA K-9 unit in one of the buses used in the exercise.” | The agency inadvertently left an unknown quantity of the explosive under the hood of a Loudoun County Public Schools bus after using the vehicle in a training program last week, while the district’s students were on spring break. According to a statement released by the CIA, “explosive training material was inadvertently left by the CIA K-9 unit in one of the buses used in the exercise.” |
The school district confirmed that the bus made eight runs on 28 and 29 March, carrying 26 public school students to three different schools for a total of 145miles of travel. The explosive material remained apparently undetected until the bus underwent routine maintenance performed by the school district on Wednesday. | |
“The CIA assured Loudoun officials the training material used in this exercise is stable and posed no danger to students on board the bus,” Loudoun County Public Schools said in a statement. “The exact nature of the training material used in this exercise is not being released at the request of the CIA so as not to compromise its training techniques.” | “The CIA assured Loudoun officials the training material used in this exercise is stable and posed no danger to students on board the bus,” Loudoun County Public Schools said in a statement. “The exact nature of the training material used in this exercise is not being released at the request of the CIA so as not to compromise its training techniques.” |
The material, characterized as “stable” by the CIA and “benign” by the school district, was characterized by a district spokesperson as a “putty-type” explosive requiring the use of a detonator, according to the Washington Post. A container holding the material was placed in the engine block of the bus as part of the training exercise, according to the CIA. At some point, however, a portion of the explosive material fell from the container into the engine compartment and was not recovered until it was discovered by a district mechanic. | The material, characterized as “stable” by the CIA and “benign” by the school district, was characterized by a district spokesperson as a “putty-type” explosive requiring the use of a detonator, according to the Washington Post. A container holding the material was placed in the engine block of the bus as part of the training exercise, according to the CIA. At some point, however, a portion of the explosive material fell from the container into the engine compartment and was not recovered until it was discovered by a district mechanic. |
In response to the incident, the CIA announced that the K-9 training program has been suspended until inventory control and procedural standards undergo review. | In response to the incident, the CIA announced that the K-9 training program has been suspended until inventory control and procedural standards undergo review. |
“CIA has taken immediate steps to strengthen inventory and control procedures in its K-9 program,” the agency said. “CIA will also conduct a thorough and independent review of CIA’s K-9 training program. CIA performed a full inventory this morning and accounted for all the explosive training material used in the K-9 training program.” | “CIA has taken immediate steps to strengthen inventory and control procedures in its K-9 program,” the agency said. “CIA will also conduct a thorough and independent review of CIA’s K-9 training program. CIA performed a full inventory this morning and accounted for all the explosive training material used in the K-9 training program.” |
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