South African police on Thursday launched an investigation after 15 people hospitalized for possible anthrax contamination.
Scare erupted after the 15 people, including five police officers, came into contact with an envelope containing suspicious white powder in the eastern port city of Durban on Wednesday, police said.
The envelope, delivered to an unidentified business around midday, contained a warning: "You think you are clever, let's see what you can do about this."
Ten employees of the business - next door to a preschool - and five police officers had to be decontaminated, using special liquid, before being sent to hospital, according to the Daily News.
This was the third in a series of anthrax scares in Durban over the past few years, with the first two at the old Durban International Airport, which had been proven fake.