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LONDON — A mail bomb intercepted last month at an English airport could have exploded over the East Coast of the United States, British police said Wednesday.

Forensic evidence showed the device, originally sent from Yemen by way of Cologne, Germany, was timed to be detonated about six to seven hours after the cargo aircraft carrying it left the U.K. for the U.S. The package was removed by police in Britain during transit.

"If the device had not been removed from the aircraft, the activation could have occurred over the eastern seaboard of the U.S.," police said in a statement.

In Washington, the White House said the British finding showed how serious the attack was. Earlier this month, a senior U.S. official had said that while the exact aim of the attack was unclear, evidence pointed to a plot to blow up cargo planes inside the U.S., either on runways or over American cities.

The UPS cargo plane intercepted in England left the country without the package at 3:20 a.m. GMT on Oct. 29 (11:20 p.m. EDT on Oct. 28), two hours after landing, police said. The device was timed to be activated at 9:30 a.m. GMT. (5:30 a.m. EDT), said British police.

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Prime example of why we need to BAN everything from Yemen, people, packages letters everything.