A letter possibly bearing anthrax was opened in The Buffalo News' downtown office Thursday morning.
The envelope, postmarked in Glasgow, Scotland, contained a piece of paper with the word "jihad" written on it and "about a handful" of a powdery substance, said Robert Cassell, an executive vice president of The News.
The letter was opened at about 10 a.m. by one of the paper's mail handlers in a secure room that handles only generically addressed letters.
The Buffalo police and fire departments, the Erie County emergency response group, SMART, the city's hazardous materials team and the FBI were all called to the scene.
According to Cassell, the FBI took the letter to the University of Rochester for testing and three people have been put on Cipro as a precautionary measure.
He said the scare did not affect the paper's operations and will not stimulate further precautionary measures.
"I think the entire building has been on a high alert ... but I don't think anybody's reacted any differently today than they would have yesterday," Cassell said Thursday.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
