From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, :
Authorities removed a “suspicious package” containing what appeared to be a hand grenade from a rest room at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport today, an Atlanta police spokeswoman said this afternoon.
Spokeswoman Marion Lee said a cleaning crew found a brown paper bag in a men’s bathroom in the South Terminal at around 10:45 a.m. A police bomb unit was called, she said.
An X-ray of the bag revealed it contained a hand grenade with the pin pulled and “attached to something like a mobile radio,” Lee said.
But authorities were less specific at a mid-afternoon news conference at Hartsfield, saying they were still trying to determine what was in the small package.
“Right now we do not know what we have,” Atlanta police Sgt. Shad Hutchins said.
Discovery of the package prompted an evacuation of a portion of the south terminal, but the airport remained open and operations were largely unaffected.
The package was removed by early afternoon and the evacuated area was reopened.
Authorities at the news conference said the package was about the size of a chalkboard eraser and lay on a counter in the men’s rest room. They said the package was wrapped in duct tape and had unspecified “components” on the outside.
The rest room and surrounding area were evacuated. Other rest rooms were checked but nothing was found, officials said.
The package was moved out of the rest room and, after being X-rayed, carried by robot to a bomb vessel.
Authorities said the package was “rendered safe” but declined to elaborate.
They did not say when they expect to release more information about the package’s contents.
UPDATE: Now they are saying it was “a military flare containing a highly flammable substance.” No more details yet.