PEABODY (AP) - Authorities responding to reports of smoke and a
chemical spill at a Peabody hotel ended up evacuating nearly 200 people
after discovering what may be a meth lab in one of the rooms.
Police found a large amount of dangerous chemicals in a ground-floor room at the Holiday Inn on Route 1 late Sunday night.
Police
say there was nobody in the room at the time, but the person who paid
for it is known to police. Authorities are still looking for that
person.
Authorities at the scene say the volatile chemicals are used in the manufacture of highly addictive crystal methamphetamine.
Hotel guests were eventually allowed back in their rooms and no injuries were reported.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are assisting the investigation.
