SALEM, Ore., Sept. 25 (UPI) -- The Oregon state capital building was evacuated Wednesday afternoon after unidentified white powder was found in an envelope sent to a third-floor mailroom, the Oregon State Police said.
Few details were immediately available, but the entire building was evacuated as a precaution in case the envelope -- which Portland media said may have had a Pakistan postmark -- contained anthrax or some other toxin.
Police told United Press International that the mail handler who opened the envelope and the two troopers who were the first on the scene were being kept in the mailroom and were "isolated" pending further investigation by a hazardous materials team from the Salem Fire Department.
Portland television station KATU said police had blocked off the streets around the four-story building, located 50 miles south of Portland.
Gov. John A. Kitzhaber, whose office is on the second floor, was not in the building at the time.
