Two hospitalized after 'suspicious package' sent to Muslim Labour MP


Two people were hospitalized Monday after a "suspicious package" was found at British parliament, London's Metropolitan Police said.

The package was sent to Muslim Labour MP Mohammad Yasin, according to local media reports.

"A man and a woman have been taken to a central London hospital as a precaution," a spokesman said, while a spokeswoman for the House of Commons said the area had been cordoned off but there was no evacuation.

"We are aware of a potential situation involving a suspicious substance which the Met Police are investigating," she said in a statement.

Emergency services were called to the Norman Shaw Building, which hosts some parliamentary offices, "at 12.58 p.m. to reports of a suspicious package at Norman Shaw Buildings, Victoria Embankment, Westminster," a police statement said.

The package is being assessed by specialist officers, according to the police.

The incident follows reports of an Islamophobic hate letter circulating across the U.K. touting a so-called "Punish a Muslim Day" on April 3. The letter posted to some addresses and on social media urges terrorist and violent acts against Muslims in the U.K.

The United Kingdom is home to about 2.8 million Muslims, constituting 4.4 percent of the population.