Hendrik Schmidt/EPA

Deutsche Bank employees leave their office in security clothes in Schkanditz, Germany, Sept. 28, after an envelope with white powder was found in the building.

Forty Deutsche Bank employees from an office in the eastern German town of Schkeuditz near Leipzig are undergoing health checks after a letter containing a white powder was found at their building, local German police said on Friday.

Around 700 people were evacuated from the building, a spokesman for West Saxony police said. The substance, which was found in an envelope, and employees who may have come into contact with it were being checked, police said.

Photographs from local media show firemen and local police wearing protective clothing and gas masks.

A Deutsche Bank spokesman said he could not confirm the details from the police but said the building housed back-office operations for Germany's biggest lender.

The Deutsche spokesman further said the health of its employees was a priority for the bank and that it was cooperating with authorities.

Local paper Leipziger Volkszeitung in its online edition said the incident may be linked to an ongoing wage dispute at the offices.

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