Residents were ordered to evacuate parts of an Illinois community on Friday after the mayor there said authorities found a bomb at a local ethanol- and alcohol-production plant.
The discovery reported at BioUrja Renewables in Peoria triggered a mandatory evacuation over a one-mile evacuation zone encompassing sections of that city as well as the adjacent municipality of East Peoria. Officials ultimately lifted the evacuation zone at about 1.25pm local time on Saturday – but only after making it clear there had genuinely been a bomb found and ruling out the presence of any other explosives.
“It is real – this is a real thing,” Peoria’s mayor, Rita Ali, initially said, according to local news outlet WMBD. “We know that is a real threat. We know it is a bomb.”
