Vague threat closes tunnel in Baltimore

BALTIMORE – A sketchy threat to blow up vehicles full of explosives prompted authorities Tuesday to close one of the busy tunnels underneath Baltimore’s harbor and partially shut down the other. One person who may have been connected to the threat was arrested on immigration charges, a law enforcement official said.

Traffic was allowed to resume by early afternoon after being diverted for nearly two hours, but the FBI continued to investigate.

The four-lane Baltimore Harbor Tunnel was closed around midday, and the eight-lane Fort McHenry Tunnel was reduced to one lane in each direction. The tunnels, both about 1.4 miles long, carry traffic between Washington and the Philadelphia and New York areas.

A federal law enforcement official said a man in custody in the Netherlands was the source of information about the threat.

State and local authorities closed the tunnels “out of an abundance of caution,” said Jim Pettit, a spokesman for Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s homeland security office.