Miami Airport Concourse Evacuated

MIAMI — A Miami International Airport concourse was evacuated for three hours Wednesday after a pepper spray can discharged, causing 43 people to suffer respiratory distress.

The can disguised as a cigarette lighter was found near the second-floor security checkpoint in Concourse B, which serves international flights, fire department spokesman Jeff Hackman said.

Officials were certain pepper spray was the irritant, airport spokeswoman Alicia Diaz said.

Security regulations allow airline passengers to carry pepper spray only if the canister has a way of preventing accidental discharge.

Paramedics treated 43 people for breathing problems and other symptoms, including scratchy throat, watery eyes, coughing and sneezing, Hackman said.

“I saw my co-workers were crying, they couldn’t breathe, they were scratching themselves,” said Mayelin Rodriguez, a screener with Global Aviation Services in Concourse B.

At least five American Airlines flights scheduled to depart from Concourse B were moved to other gates, Diaz said.

The incident caused alarm in South Florida, where the first cases of anthrax contamination were reported last autumn after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon.