Kumkum Powder Prompts Panic in U.S. Post Office

[Guest guest]

Yikes. Don't know whether to laugh or cry over this one:

 

FOXBORO, MASSACHUSETTS, March 20, 2003: A red powdery substance

discovered Monday in a letter by mailroom workers at Invensys

prompted a partial evacuation of the facility. With the heightened

alert due to the war with Iraq, local firefighters were concerned

when responding to a call about an unknown powdery substance at the

Invensys mailroom.

 

Deputy Chief Steve Bagley declared a Tier 1 alert, a low-level

hazardous materials emergency. Also responding to the scene were five

members of a regional hazardous materials team, who donned "hazmat"

(hazardess materials) suits and entered the building to secure the

letter mailed from an unfamiliar address in India. Local firefighters

had planned to transport the letter for analysis to the state

Department of Public Health in Boston the following day -- when they

learned the substance in question was kumkum powder, used by millions

of Hindu women and in temple ceremonies.

 

Source: http://www.foxbororeporter.com/news4.htm

Courtesy of Hindu Press International (HPI)

[Guest guest]

, "Devi Bhakta"

<devi_bhakta> wrote:

> Yikes. Don't know whether to laugh or cry over this one:

 

I "saw" imageries of a horde of grown firemen and policemen

approaching said kumkum-letter with fear, awe and trepidation. That

her mere powder could stir such fright hints at Devi's immense

pow(d)ers.