6 Taken to Hospital After Suspicious Package Found at Prison

Six people were hospitalized Wednesday after a suspicious package was found at a facility off of Broad River Road, according a department spokesperson.

An employee at the Watkins Pre-release center on St. Andrews Terrace Road found a suspicious package around 9:45 a.m., said Clark Newsom, spokesperson for the department. When she opened it, she found a white powdery substance inside that caused her to start coughing.

Officials at the center called the Columbia-Richland Fire Department's Hazmat team and evacuated the administrative building, Newsom said.

Four employees, one inmate who was working at the center and one person with the fire department were sent to the hospital, Newsom said.

All six people are doing fine, as far as he knows, Newsom said.

State and federal officials are investigating the package. 

The Watkins Pre-release Center will be closing in the middle of March, Newsom said. Most of the inmates had already been moved to the Manning Correctional Institution on Beckman Road in Columbia, he said. A staff of about 10 people were working at the center when the package was found.