Rotorua anthrax mail scare a hoax

The white powder found at the Rotorua Mail Centre was not anthrax.

Rotorua Police said today that tests on the powder carried out at the National Centre for Disease and Investigation at Upper Hutt were negative.

Staff had to evacuate the Waterford Street centre last Wednesday night after the powder was seen coming out of an envelope.

About 15 postal workers had to through decontamination showers and the centre was closed on Wednesday night and all of Thursday, bringing mail sorting to a halt and causing a backlog of mail deliveries.

The mail centre opened again for business on Friday and, after today's deliveries, staff should have caught up with the backlog, Mail Centre manager Grant Ormsby said.

Senior Sergeant Dave Wilson of the Rotorua Police said the Upper Hutt centre had not specified what the mystery powder was. Police wanted to find out what the powder was and where it came from.

The suspicious envelope was addressed to someone in Tokoroa. However, the intended recipient did not know who had sent it.

- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)