Police carried out a controlled explosion after a suspicious package was found near the American Embassy in London

London – London police carried out a controlled explosion on Friday after finding a suspicious package near the American Embassy in the British capital. They closed at least one road near the embassy compound, which sits south of the River Thames in the Nine Elms area.

“We can confirm that the 'loud noise' reported in the area a short time ago was a controlled explosion carried out by the police,” London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement posted online.

The embassy posted on its social media that police closed the road near the building “out of an abundance of caution.”

The US Embassy in London opened in its new location just outside the city center in early 2018. It sits on a campus well away from most public roads and is surrounded by strong defenses.

Former UK counter-terrorism adviser Nick Aldworth told CBS News on Friday that the US embassy is “one of the most secure places in London.”

“It is a purpose-built embassy,” he said, which gave the company the “advantage of being built with built-in environmental protection measures” such as land insects and other physical features, putting it “at the highest end of the design and space. protecting it from terrorist incidents.”