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| World Home » Current Affairs » | Mon. Sep 8, 2008 |
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London on alert after discovery of explosives MIL/CNN, Jun 30, 2007. London: June 30, 2007 (Saturday) -Security across London has been increased after the police discovered on Friday that two cars had filled with explosives which would have killed hundreds of people if it the device had exploded. Scotland Yard authorities believe that both incidents are interconnected connected. The first car was discovered parked near Piccadilly Circus and the second one was found about an hour later, which was less than a kilometer away near Trafalgar Square. On Friday, London police said the second discovered car -- containing fuel, gas canisters and nails -- was "clearly linked" to the first explosives-packed car found outside a nightclub near Piccadilly Circus, Metropolitan Police said. A "considerable" amount of fuel and gas canisters, along with a "substantial quantity of nails," was found in the blue Mercedes 280E, said Peter Clarke, Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner, said about the second car. He called the discovery of the second bomb "troubling," but urged the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious behavior to authorities. About 3:30 a.m., Clarke said, the Mercedes was taken to an impound lot in Hyde Park. Security sources earlier told CNN that workers who towed it thought the car smelled of gasoline, and became suspicious because of the reports that gasoline was among the explosive materials found in the first vehicle. Clarke said the second device, like the first, was "potentially viable" but was rendered safe by police explosives officers. "These vehicles are clearly linked," he said. The first car, a silver Mercedes-Benz sedan, was discovered about 1:30 a.m. when an ambulance crew called to treat an ill person noticed what appeared to be smoke inside the car and notified authorities, London police said. The car was parked in front of the Tiger Tiger club, and the discovery prompted the closing of several streets until the vehicle was hauled off nine hours later. "In the car, they found significant quantities of petrol together with a number of gas cylinders," Clarke said. He could not immediately say how much fuel was there. "I can tell you it was in several large containers," Clarke said. "There were also a large number of nails in the vehicle." He said explosives officers manually disabled "a potential means of detonation for the gas and the fuel in the vehicle," which preserved crucial forensic evidence for investigators. A cell phone was found as part of the device in the silver car, according to security sources with knowledge of the investigation, although it was not immediately known what role the cell phone may have played in the device. The sources said the device was apparently set up to be remotely detonated. Metropolitan Police Counterterrorism Command officers are reviewing closed-circuit security camera video to see if they can determine who parked the car there, Clarke said.
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