A scary day at the office

By PAUL YANDALL

They're used to busy mornings at the biggest mail sorting centre in Auckland ... but not quite as busy or as unsettling as yesterday.

Forty-five New Zealand Post workers were evacuated from the South Auckland Mail Service Centre on Kerrs Rd in Wiri after a mail sorter said mail she had been sorting at about 8 am had left a white, powdery, substance on her hands.

It was one of four anthrax scares in New Zealand yesterday, and one of thousands around the world triggered by a rash of legitimate anthrax cases in the United States.

Thirty of the postal workers were water-sprayed in full clothing, stripped, showered again, clothed in boiler suits, given antibiotics and interviewed by police - all before the mid-morning smoko.

The woman who raised the alarm was taken to Middlemore Hospital as a precaution.

A child who was also in the mail centre when the alarm was raised was also taken to the hospital after suffering a mild asthma attack during the "excitement", said police.

Both were expected to be released yesterday.

The remaining workers were kept in quarantine at the neighbouring Du Pont office buildings.

Like a scene from the X-Files, a steady stream of police, fire, and Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries investigators dressed in protective suits and wearing breathing apparatus inspected the mail room.

Waving and smiling from the Du Pont office windows, the 30 post workers seemed by late morning to be more bemused than scared.

When they were finally allowed outside to collect a midday cuppa, their most pressing problem was not so much the global threat of terrorism, but when lunch would arrive.

"I'm thirsty and hungry," yelled one worker in good humour as she shuffled into the queue for coffee supplied by the Fire Service.

"Cold too," complained another, gesturing at the outdoor decontamination showers set up by firefighters to wash off any powder residue.

The fully-clothed workers were escorted into the showers by firefighters wearing protective suits and and breathing apparatus.

One by one, the 14 delivery workers and 16 mail sorters were asked to step this way, twirl, raise your left arm, raise your right, raise your left foot, raise your right, step this way ...

Their clothes were bagged in plastic and are not expected to be used again.

Another 10 staff were checked, but did not have to undergo decontamination.

The white, powdery substance has been taken for testing.

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