People evacuated from UN headquarters on fire alarm, alarm lifted later

UNITED NATIONS, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Employees, diplomats and visitors were evacuated Tuesday morning from the United Nations headquarters buildings in New York City following a fire alarm, which was lifted about 20 minutes later.

No smoke or fire was seen from the outside of the buildings. People were allowed back into the buildings after the alarm was cancelled.

Fire drills have been conducted regularly at the UN headquarters, though evacuation was rare in recent years.