3 Alameda Office Workers Sickened After Employee Opens Suspicious Package

ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) - Fire officials say firefighters and hazardous materials teams have cleared an office where an employee felt ill after opening an envelope containing a powdery substance.

Alameda Fire Department spokesman Juan Medrano says about 50 people kept in quarantine have been released from a secured area in a U.S. Customs and Border protection office in Alameda.

Medrano says authorities were called Wednesday to the office building when employee became ill after opening an envelope.

Medrano says another two people who were in the quarantine later reported feeling sick.

He says the scene was cleared three hours after authorities were called in and that officials are still trying to identify the substance.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.