CIA left bomb behind on Virginia school bus

The CIA accidentally left inert explosives on a suburban Washington school bus for days after a training session, it acknowledged this week.

After a “routine training exercise” with police dog units at a Loudon County, Va., school last week, training explosives were “inadvertently” left behind in one of the buses, the CIA said in a statement.

{mosads}The device was not discovered until the bus underwent a routine check on Wednesday. By that point, it had ferried more than two dozen elementary and high school students to and from school on Monday and Tuesday, Loudon County Public Schools spokesman Wayde Byard told multiple media outlets.

“CIA and Loudoun County explosives experts have confirmed that the training material did not pose a danger to passengers on the bus,” the CIA claimed.

According to Byard, the small, black device had no detonator or triggering mechanism.

Nonetheless, the CIA took “immediate steps to strengthen inventory and control procedures in its K-9 program,” in the wake of the slip-up, it claimed. The agency also promised to lead a “thorough and independent review” of its dog training program.

On Thursday, agency officials “performed a full inventory” of its explosives training materials, and everything was accounted for, they added.