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(CNN) — Packages that emitted smoke and sulfur-like smells at two Maryland state government office buildings left one person with minor injuries Thursday, a Maryland state government official with knowledge of the situation told CNN.
No one suffered serious injuries or was hospitalized, a government source said. It was not clear how many people may have received medical treatment.
About 300 state employees were evacuated from the buildings.
Authorities responded to devices found in the mailroom of a state House office building in Annapolis, Maryland, and at the Maryland Department of Transportation headquarters near Hanover, Maryland, said Philip McGowan, a spokesman for Annapolis Mayor Joshua Cohen. Hanover is southwest of Baltimore.
Maryland State Police provided details of the incidents.
At 12:30 p.m., the Jeffrey Building, on Francis Street in Annapolis, received a package described as the size of a book. When it was opened by a mailroom employee, it “triggered a reaction involving smoke and a sulfur-like smell.”
The employee sustained minor burns to his fingers, but refused further medical treatment, State Police said in a statement.
The building was evacuated for about two hours.
At about 12:45 p.m., a similar incident occurred in the mailroom of the Maryland Department of Transportation headquarters, State Police said. “When an employee opened the package, a similar reaction to the Jeffrey building incident occurred.”
Security precautions were being taken in state buildings. Reports of the incidents came in “not simultaneously, but close,” said the government source.
The Jeffrey Building in Annapolis houses the state Homeland Security office, the Secretary of State and Veterans Affairs offices and some divisions of the governor’s office, according to state property managers.
State House Speaker Michael E. Busch said mail service has been suspended in the legislative complex.
“While the investigation is ongoing, it appears that two incendiary devices were transported through State government mail rooms,” Busch wrote in a statement. “We would encourage you to use reasonable caution in handling any packages that come to your office for the time being, and not open any mail until we have more complete information.”
The Annapolis police bomb squad and firefighters responded, McGowan told CNN, as well as the FBI and the state bomb squad.
A Department of Homeland Security official said the department is closely monitoring the situation and is working with law enforcement agencies. Maryland State Police are taking the lead in the investigation.
CNN’s Mike Ahlers, Barbara Starr, Tim McCaughan and Joshua Levs contributed to this report.
