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Airline passengers in London suffered a morning of chaos Tuesday after a computer fault froze check-in systems at British Airways and the U.K. capital’s City airport was closed when protesters blocked the runway.

At London City airport a group of nine activists from the Black Lives Matter campaign group chained themselves to a tripod positioned on the single landing strip, causing the terminal favoured by corporate travellers to shut to traffic.

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Flights at London City were disrupted from at least 5:40 a.m., when the authorities were alerted to the runway incursions, with local press reports suggesting they may have got to the docklands site by boat.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement that officers were negotiating with the protesters while “awaiting the arrival of specialist resources” to break the locks. All nine people were later removed from the runway and arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass, being unlawfully airside and breaching London City’s bylaws.