Business as usual as bomb scares occure all around the country
ebn | 11.07.2005 16:48 | Analysis | Anti-militarism | London
A quick google news search revealed a hell of a lot of bomb scares and the occasional controlled explosion over the last week or two....
THOUSANDS of passengers were evacuated, 20 flights were delayed and three flights were cancelled as a result of a bomb scare at Bristol International Airport. Police officers were called to the airport just after 6pm on Friday 1st July after staff carrying out security screening inside the main terminal became concerned about a number of items in a suspect package which was due to be transferred onto an onward flight.
As a precautionary measure, the airport's main terminal was evacuated and passengers were escorted to the old terminal building. The police contacted the army's bomb disposal team which carried out a controlled explosion. At 9.35pm the main terminal was declared safe and shortly afterwards passengers were allowed back in.
Bomb scare for Cardiff Centre on Saturday 1st. For four hours, as Army bomb disposal officers investigated a suspect package found in the Next clothes store, thousands of evacuated shop assistants and shoppers were kept behind cordons around Queen Street following a hoax call to the shop at 7.10am on Saturday. The caller - a man who may have had a foreign accent – told a woman member of staff there was a bomb in the shop. Police investigated then but found nothing until staff spotted the package, deliberately wrapped to look like a potential bomb, at around 11.45am yesterday. All the Next employees had been told not to speak to the press and refused to comment.
Auchterarder [near Gleneagles], was cut in two [5th July] as the police were forced to close its main thoroughfare due to an apparent bomb scare on the eve of the G8 summit at Gleneagles, writes Mike Donachie. Few details were confirmed by officers at the scene, but it is understood a suspicious package close to the Clydesdale Bank was involved.
Bomb scare leads to city gridlock as the centre of Sheffield came to a standstill during rush hour traffic on Tuesday [5th] after a suspect bag was found outside official buildings. Army bomb disposal units were called to Bridge Street after a package was found near Home Office buildings and the police headquarters in the city. A 100m cordon was put around the site with main bus routes and roads closed. Police said the city was "gridlocked" for two hours with diversions in place. The bag turned out to be a empty. A spokesman said two controlled explosions were carried out at the scene which was also near the city's magistrates court.
Bomb scare in Norwich city centre. Castle Mall and Castle Meadow were evacuated [Friday 8th July] forcing hundreds of staff and members of the public on to the street. Onlookers were forced to watch from behind a police cordon as Red Lion Street and Farmers Avenue were closed to traffic and those parked inside the complex were unable to return to their cars. Police, firefighters and paramedics were all on the scene. Business in the immediate proximity of the safety zone were also emptied including the Bell Hotel.
On Friday night a bomb disposal team was called out to George Street, Edinburgh, after a suspicious package was found at Starbucks. Lothian and Borders Police closed the road and evacuated surrounding properties but a spokesman later confirmed it was a false alarm and the road was re-opened.
The incident followed two scares in Edinburgh on Thursday when bomb disposal experts carried out controlled explosions after suspect packages were found on board a bus and outside a shop. Police were called to Princes Street at about 1730 BST. An area between the Mound and Charlotte Square was cordoned off and all surrounding properties were evacuated. Two controlled explosions were carried out on the bus and one on the package found on the street. Neither contained explosives. The area has been reopened.
EIGHT thousand people were evacuated from a packed community festival in Sheffield after reports of a suspect package sparked a bomb scare.
Organisers and police ordered everyone out of Abbeyfield Park, Burngreave, after the force apparently received more than one warning. Vendors were forced to abandon stalls and join thousands of revellers, many with young children, who surged towards the exits. Eyewitnesses said some people resorted to jumping walls when a crush briefly developed but it is believed everyone cleared the park safely within half an hour of the announcement just after 4pm [Sunday 10th]. Police sealed off surrounding streets causing traffic chaos.
Nottingham Bomb Scare, Mansfield Road, another false alarm, Sunday 10th. Military on our streets is still quite a shock to many of us that are more used to a civil society. Roads blocked off at stort notice, worried looks on the publics face. There was a small explosion, with the distruction of a suspect package. We were turned back on Mansfield road yesterday in our car but not told why. We guessed it was a bomb scare but could not find any mention of it in todays Nottingham Evening Post.
As a precautionary measure, the airport's main terminal was evacuated and passengers were escorted to the old terminal building. The police contacted the army's bomb disposal team which carried out a controlled explosion. At 9.35pm the main terminal was declared safe and shortly afterwards passengers were allowed back in.
Bomb scare for Cardiff Centre on Saturday 1st. For four hours, as Army bomb disposal officers investigated a suspect package found in the Next clothes store, thousands of evacuated shop assistants and shoppers were kept behind cordons around Queen Street following a hoax call to the shop at 7.10am on Saturday. The caller - a man who may have had a foreign accent – told a woman member of staff there was a bomb in the shop. Police investigated then but found nothing until staff spotted the package, deliberately wrapped to look like a potential bomb, at around 11.45am yesterday. All the Next employees had been told not to speak to the press and refused to comment.
Auchterarder [near Gleneagles], was cut in two [5th July] as the police were forced to close its main thoroughfare due to an apparent bomb scare on the eve of the G8 summit at Gleneagles, writes Mike Donachie. Few details were confirmed by officers at the scene, but it is understood a suspicious package close to the Clydesdale Bank was involved.
Bomb scare leads to city gridlock as the centre of Sheffield came to a standstill during rush hour traffic on Tuesday [5th] after a suspect bag was found outside official buildings. Army bomb disposal units were called to Bridge Street after a package was found near Home Office buildings and the police headquarters in the city. A 100m cordon was put around the site with main bus routes and roads closed. Police said the city was "gridlocked" for two hours with diversions in place. The bag turned out to be a empty. A spokesman said two controlled explosions were carried out at the scene which was also near the city's magistrates court.
Bomb scare in Norwich city centre. Castle Mall and Castle Meadow were evacuated [Friday 8th July] forcing hundreds of staff and members of the public on to the street. Onlookers were forced to watch from behind a police cordon as Red Lion Street and Farmers Avenue were closed to traffic and those parked inside the complex were unable to return to their cars. Police, firefighters and paramedics were all on the scene. Business in the immediate proximity of the safety zone were also emptied including the Bell Hotel.
On Friday night a bomb disposal team was called out to George Street, Edinburgh, after a suspicious package was found at Starbucks. Lothian and Borders Police closed the road and evacuated surrounding properties but a spokesman later confirmed it was a false alarm and the road was re-opened.
The incident followed two scares in Edinburgh on Thursday when bomb disposal experts carried out controlled explosions after suspect packages were found on board a bus and outside a shop. Police were called to Princes Street at about 1730 BST. An area between the Mound and Charlotte Square was cordoned off and all surrounding properties were evacuated. Two controlled explosions were carried out on the bus and one on the package found on the street. Neither contained explosives. The area has been reopened.
EIGHT thousand people were evacuated from a packed community festival in Sheffield after reports of a suspect package sparked a bomb scare.
Organisers and police ordered everyone out of Abbeyfield Park, Burngreave, after the force apparently received more than one warning. Vendors were forced to abandon stalls and join thousands of revellers, many with young children, who surged towards the exits. Eyewitnesses said some people resorted to jumping walls when a crush briefly developed but it is believed everyone cleared the park safely within half an hour of the announcement just after 4pm [Sunday 10th]. Police sealed off surrounding streets causing traffic chaos.
Nottingham Bomb Scare, Mansfield Road, another false alarm, Sunday 10th. Military on our streets is still quite a shock to many of us that are more used to a civil society. Roads blocked off at stort notice, worried looks on the publics face. There was a small explosion, with the distruction of a suspect package. We were turned back on Mansfield road yesterday in our car but not told why. We guessed it was a bomb scare but could not find any mention of it in todays Nottingham Evening Post.
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