Bomb scare on bus, princess street
Richard Lanchester | 07.07.2005 21:46 | G8 2005
Earlier this afternoon, the main area that authorities could expect to be under a bomb threat perhaps was Waverly Station, with Kevlar-covered cops sitting in parked vans nearby. But then a suspect package was discovered on a #12 Bus leading west on Princess Street.
Picture of Disposal on Princes Street (added)
We are so careless that we leave enough of our possession on public transport to fill small warehouses - where it is eventually auctioned off to second hand dealers and car-booters.
But on a day like this, at a place like this, extreme caution is to be expected, so the street was cleared for 400 yards each side of the bus, along with the adjacent park.
After a surprisingly long wait, a bomb disposal with trucks arrived and parked up. After another wait, a small solitary figure emerged and began a long lonely walk down the empty street to the bus parked on the roadside. Through 15x power pocket binoculars, I could see he was wearing a black padded suit and a helmet. All he had to tell him what he might be facing, was a small handheld piece of equipment with a pipe on the side, which I assume would be a chemical detector, which he applied to the entrance step area of the bus.
After two slow cautions visits to this area, he eventually went upstairs, where I could just see him through the rear window moving, ever so slowly, and bending over the look at something. Then back to the pavement, then back upstairs again, then down again, and doing something on the pavement, And finally, he walked back up the street.
I said to the small crowd around me next to the police barrier - four video cmeramen, as many still photographers, a couple of reporters, several french tourists, several americans, along ith a group of young local guys holding lager cans - "wow, that must be such a lonely job! Don't you think we should give him a round of applause?" I started a handclap with the young americans next to me - to quizzical looks from the rest of the crowd. "Maybe not, then".
After another wait, we heard two small thuds, the sound of a controlled explosion under protective equipment. The west breeze brought us a momentous smell like fireworks a minute later. The padded man made a return visit, followed later by an unprotected technician carrying equipment. A tow truck arrived to deal with the bus, and the police began to wind down the street blockade. One of the journalists said the small sound of the controlled explosion indicated afalse alarm.
But on a day like this, at a place like this, extreme caution is to be expected, so the street was cleared for 400 yards each side of the bus, along with the adjacent park.
After a surprisingly long wait, a bomb disposal with trucks arrived and parked up. After another wait, a small solitary figure emerged and began a long lonely walk down the empty street to the bus parked on the roadside. Through 15x power pocket binoculars, I could see he was wearing a black padded suit and a helmet. All he had to tell him what he might be facing, was a small handheld piece of equipment with a pipe on the side, which I assume would be a chemical detector, which he applied to the entrance step area of the bus.
After two slow cautions visits to this area, he eventually went upstairs, where I could just see him through the rear window moving, ever so slowly, and bending over the look at something. Then back to the pavement, then back upstairs again, then down again, and doing something on the pavement, And finally, he walked back up the street.
I said to the small crowd around me next to the police barrier - four video cmeramen, as many still photographers, a couple of reporters, several french tourists, several americans, along ith a group of young local guys holding lager cans - "wow, that must be such a lonely job! Don't you think we should give him a round of applause?" I started a handclap with the young americans next to me - to quizzical looks from the rest of the crowd. "Maybe not, then".
After another wait, we heard two small thuds, the sound of a controlled explosion under protective equipment. The west breeze brought us a momentous smell like fireworks a minute later. The padded man made a return visit, followed later by an unprotected technician carrying equipment. A tow truck arrived to deal with the bus, and the police began to wind down the street blockade. One of the journalists said the small sound of the controlled explosion indicated afalse alarm.
Richard Lanchester