New suspicious substance in Vegas found harmless

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A suspicious substance reported at a Las Vegas hotel and casino on Tuesday was found to be harmless, authorities said, just days after a man was hospitalized in the resort city for suspected ricin poisoning.

Hazardous materials teams responded to the Excalibur Hotel and Casino after a guest reported the unknown substance in his room, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police spokesman Bill Cassell said.

The room was quarantined while crews tested the matter and ultimately confirmed that it was not dangerous, Cassell said.

Cassell declined to elaborate on the nature of the substance. Local news reports said the man had called police after finding a white powder in the sheets of his bed.

The FBI has been investigating the mysterious circumstances surrounding the illness of a man who was in critical condition at a Las Vegas hospital with suspected ricin poisoning. Several vials of the deadly poison were found in his hotel room on Friday.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb, editing by Bob Tourtellotte)