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Newark terminal reopens after shutdown

NEWARK, N.J., Jan. 4 (UPI) -- A man who walked into a secure area prompted a five-hour shutdown of a terminal at Newark Liberty International Airport Sunday, officials said.

The Transportation Security Administration and airline officials said authorities were searching for the man and trying to identify him from surveillance video, The (Newark) Star-Ledger reported.

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The TSA says reviewing video from airport cameras might help authorities retrace the man's steps -- and possibly determine if he went out of the secure area the wrong way and then went back or if he never went through screening.

"A male individual was observed walking the wrong way down an exit lane in Terminal C at Newark Liberty Airport," TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said. "TSA was notified and we immediately halted screening at the security checkpoints in Terminal C and worked with the Port Authority to pull the surveillance tapes in the area to determine what transpired and see if we could identify the individual in question."

Davis said a security officer should have been at the exit lane.

"TSA is reviewing the circumstances to find out exactly what happened -- and will take any disciplinary action as necessary," the TSA spokeswoman said.

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Rescreening of thousands of passengers, being called in groups of 25, began around 10:30 p.m., The Star-Ledger reported.

The shutdown had halted all flights departing from Terminal C, which mainly serves Continental Airlines, even those with passengers already aboard.

Police officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, were assisting the TSA in the investigation, a Port Authority spokesman said.

The airport, about 15 miles from Manhattan, handles about 35 million passengers a year, making it among the nation's busiest.

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