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 Police avert car bomb 'carnage' - Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:13 pm |
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Mala
Angelus
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Posts: 798
Location: Inside My Own Little World
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| Quote: | A car bomb planted in central London would have caused "carnage" if it had exploded, police sources have said.
A controlled explosion was carried out on the car, packed with 60 litres of petrol, gas cylinders and nails, in Haymarket, near Piccadilly Circus.
An ambulance crew saw smoke coming from the green metallic Mercedes, near the Tiger Tiger nightclub at 0130 BST.
Later part of London's Park Lane was closed to traffic after reports of a suspicious vehicle.
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said that Park Lane was closed at Marble Arch to Hyde Park Corner and a 200m cordon put in place.
It would also affect part of Oxford Street and people were being asked to leave the street but were not initially being evacuated from buildings in the area, said the spokeswoman.
Sources close to the investigation said that the Park Lane closure is linked to the discovery of a vehicle at an underground car park.
It is also believed to be linked to the investigation into the Haymarket car bomb.
At the moment it is not known if the vehicle at Park Lane contains a device.
'Viable explosive device'
"International elements" are believed to be involved with the Haymarket bomb, Whitehall sources told the BBC.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command, said: "It is obvious that if the device had detonated there could have been serious injury or loss of life."
The ambulance had been called to the nightclub - where up to 1,700 people were inside - when they spotted smoke, now believed to be vapour, inside the car.
Bomb experts manually disabled the "potentially viable explosive device".
See map of where device was found
The car bomb has echoes of other terrorist plots. Five men were jailed for life in April for a UK bomb plot linked to al-Qaeda that targeted a shopping centre and a nightclub with a giant fertiliser bomb.
And Dhiren Barot was jailed for life last November for conspiring to park limousines packed with gas canisters underneath high-profile buildings before detonating them.
DAC Clarke told a press conference that it was too early to say who was responsible but the incident "resonated" with previous terrorist plots.
"The threat from terrorism is real. It is here, enduring. Life must go on but we must all stay alert," he said.
Mr Clarke also specifically mentioned nightclubs as a potential target.
Following the discovery, police patrols in central London were stepped up "to provide a visible reassurance", rather than in response to a specific threat.
Officers will visit licensed premises to reiterate ongoing crime prevention and safety advice, said a police spokesman.
The Muslim Council of Britain, the largest organisation representing Muslim groups in the UK, urged people to help the police find the perpetrators.
Secretary-General Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, said: "It is now a duty upon all the rest of us to help the police so that they can bring whoever was involved in this plot swiftly to justice".
Alert
Speaking in Downing Street after a private meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the new Home Office minister for security, Admiral Sir Alan West, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith urged members of the public to report anything suspicious to the police.
Mr Brown said Britain faces "a serious and continuous threat".
He added the public "need to be alert" at all times.
The BBC's Andy Tighe said the timing was significant coming a day after Mr Brown became prime minister, and with the second anniversary of the 7 July bombings approaching.
Earlier reports said bouncers from a nearby nightclub saw the car being driven erratically before it crashed into a bin. They claimed the driver then got out and ran off.
A police source said the bomb was a "big device" and had posed a real and substantial threat to the hundreds of revellers leaving the area's bars and nightclubs.
Dozens of forensic officers examined the scene and the car was taken to the Forensics Explosives Laboratory in Kent for further tests.
Scotland Yard said the Counter Terrorism Command would be checking the CCTV in the area.
Police are believed to have also carried out a search of other key areas in the capital shortly after the discovery of the car.
A spokesman said: "Police were called to reports of a suspicious vehicle parked in Haymarket, shortly before 2am this morning.
"As a precautionary measure the immediate area was cordoned off while the vehicle was examined by explosives officers.
"They discovered what appeared to be a potentially viable explosive device. This was made safe."
Police say Haymarket is likely to remain closed for some time and severe travel disruption is predicted.
Piccadilly Circus Tube station has reopened after being shut during rush-hour.
The BBC's Daniela Relph, at the scene, said the heart of London was completely closed off and police officers were concentrating on keeping people away.
'First clue'
The current terrorism threat level has been classed as severe - one level lower than the highest "critical" - since 14 August 2006.
Intelligence sources said they were keeping an open mind on who was responsible for the car bomb.
The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner said the incident had "come from nowhere" and that the driver of the car was now Britain's "most wanted".
He said CCTV was the key to finding the "first clue" as to who was behind the attempted bombing.
Police have urged witnesses who were in the area on Thursday evening to contact them. |
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Live Well, Laugh Often, And Love With All Your Heart
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| - Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:57 pm |
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Zoe
Angelus
Joined: 02 Apr 2007
Posts: 711
Location: East Yorkshire, UK
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I'm finding it kinda scary with all this bomb stuff again. I don't like it.
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**Time And Relative Dimensions In Space**
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| - Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 4:01 pm |
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Mala
Angelus
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Posts: 798
Location: Inside My Own Little World
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I know what you mean. It was bad enough with the Underground bombings, I hope it doesn't kick off again.
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_________________
Live Well, Laugh Often, And Love With All Your Heart
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