Large Car Bomb Found, Defused in Central London
Friday, June 29th, 2007Update at bottom.
More terrorist activities discovered in London. It will interesting to see what group, if any, claims responsibility.
LONDON — Police thwarted an apparent terror attack Friday near the famed Piccadilly Circus in the heart of London, defusing a bomb made of a lethal mix of gasoline, propane gas, and nails after an ambulance crew spotted smoke coming from a silver Mercedes outside a nightclub.
Hours later, police closed a major road in central London because of a suspicious vehicle.
A police spokesman said there was no immediate information about the vehicle on Park Lane, on the eastern edge of Hyde Park. He said there was nothing immediately to suggest it was linked to the earlier incident.
The bomb in the city’s theater district was powerful enough to have caused “significant injury or loss of life” — possibly killing hundreds, British anti-terror police chief Peter Clarke said.
Britain’s new home secretary, Jacqui Smith called an emergency meeting of top officials, calling the attempted attack “international terrorism.”
“We are currently facing the most serious and sustained threat to our security from international terrorism,” she said afterward. “This reinforces the need for the public to remain vigilant to the threat we face at all times.”
Police planned to examine footage from closed-circuit TV cameras in the area, Clarke said, hoping the surveillance network that covers much of central London will help them track down the driver of the rigged Mercedes.
Officers were called to The Haymarket, just south of Piccadilly Circus, after an ambulance crew — responding to a call just before 1:30 a.m. about an injury at a nearby nightclub — noticed smoke coming from a car parked in front of the club, Clarke said.
A bomb squad manually disabled the bomb.
Early photographs of the silver Mercedes showed a canister bearing the words “patio gas,” indicating it was propane gas, next to the car. The back door was open with blankets spilling out. The car was removed from the scene midmorning.
The busy Haymarket thoroughfare linking Piccadilly Circus to the Pall Mall is packed with restaurants, bars, a cinema complex and West End theaters, and was buzzing at that hour.
Please notice the fact that this bomb was packed with nails, which means it’s sole intent was to kill people. The innocent civilians going about their business on the streets and sidewalks nearby. Women and children. Take a look at this and then try to understand what the evil monster, masquerading as a human being, is capable of doing.
See “Nail bomb boy goes home”.
Original Link.
Update 06/29/07 3:47 CDT:
Fox News is reporting that a second car with explosives was found in London.
Police Find Explosive Device in Second Car in London
LONDON — Police thwarted a car bomb attack Friday in London’s bustling nightclub and theater district, defusing a crude explosive device made of gasoline, propane gas and nails after an ambulance crew spotted smoke coming from a green Mercedes outside a nightclub. Hours later, police confirmed that a second car bomb was found in the center of the city.
The first car bomb, found near Piccadilly Circus, was powerful enough to have caused “significant injury or loss of life” at a time when hundreds were in the area, British anti-terror police chief Peter Clarke said.
Clarke said Friday evening that the second car — a blue Mercedes — was originally parked illegally on nearby Cockspur Street, but had been towed from the West End to an impound lot near Hyde Park.
“The vehicle was found to contain very similar materials to those that had been found in the first car,” he said. “There was a considerable amount of fuel and gas canisters. As in the first vehicle, there was also a quantity of nails. This like the first device was potentially viable.”