BBC Thursday, 2 August, 2001, 23:56 GMT 00:56 UK Bomb explodes near London station

Eyewitnesses said there were flames and glass everywhere

A suspected car bomb has exploded near Ealing Broadway station in west London.

The explosion happened just before midnight on Thursday evening in Uxbridge Road, about 100 metres from the Tube and railway station.

There are no reports of fatalities but several people were injured and have been admitted to Ealing Hospital.

Student Jagpreet Sidhu, 22, from south east London, saw the bomb go off while standing outside the Townhouse on the corner of Uxbridge Road.

He said: "I felt a huge shockwave then literally saw a roll of flame coming towards us. All the shop windows smashed. We ducked and were thrown to the floor."

Schoolgirl Nikki Cox, 16, of Ealing, who was outside The Bell pub nearby said the explosion had caused "mass panic".

"Police began to cordon off the area. I asked them what they were doing and they said they were about to conduct a search.

"Then about half a second later a car exploded. We heard a huge bang and felt the heat as it went off. All the glass from the shop windows just fell to the ground and people ran out of the pub. They all began to run towards the bomb not knowing where the explosion had come from. It was just a mass of panic," she said.

Busy area

Richard Venner, 21, of Ealing, was also in The Bell when the incident happened.

The sales representative said: "There was debris everywhere for about 100 yards down the street."

Another local resident, Simon Offer, said: "I ran out and people were running up the street.

"Some people were on the floor, some were having panic attacks. These were people who had been caught up in the explosion.

"There were a lot of people around. This area is very busy on a Thursday night.

"The police started to move people back and gave a warning that there could be a secondary device."

Warning received

Scotland Yard said the cause of the blast was not yet known.

Officers said they had received a warning, but could not confirm whether it was a recognised codeword.

Police have cordoned off the area and are searching for secondary devices.

Emergency crews are still at the scene.

Last year, police destroyed a bomb left near railway tracks near Ealing Broadway tube station.

Dissident republican terrorist group the Real IRA was understood to be behind that attack.

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001

Answers

Sky News Car Bomb Explodes In Ealing Six people have been taken to hospital after a car bomb has exploded in West London.

The device exploded near a pub around 100 metres from the Tube and railway station shortly after midnight. None of the injuries - five males, one female - was thought to be life threatening.

Flying glass

Police confirmed they received a coded warning before the bomb went off. The blast could be heard half a mile away.

Broken windows littered the area, according a Sky News producer who was at the scene. Louise Hastings said she saw one girl in her teens who had been hit by flying glass and said it was a scene of "utter devastation".

Eyewitnesses said the explosion occurred near The Townhouse pub in Uxbridge Road, just as the area's bars were emptying.

'Mass panic'

Schoolgirl Nikki Cox, 16, of Ealing, who was outside The Bell pub said: "Police began to cordon off the area. I asked them what they were doing and they said they were about to conduct a search.

"Then about half a second later a car exploded. We heard a huge bang and felt the heat as it went off. All the glass from the shop windows just fell to the ground and people ran out of the pub.

"They all began to run towards the bomb not knowing where the explosion had come from. It was just a mass of panic."

Responsibility

A spokeswoman for Ealing Hospital said it had received seven casualties. "They are still being assessed but none appear life threatening at this stage. They have just arrived and we need to let the staff get on with that."

No-one has accepted responsibility for the bomb.

Last Modified: 02:45 UK, Friday August 03, 2001

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001

BBC Friday, 3 August, 2001, 11:34 GMT 12:34 UK Hunt on for London bombers Officers are sifting debris for vital evidence

Police are searching for the Real IRA unit thought to be behind the west London car bombing which injured seven people.

The bomb - which contained up to 40kg of homemade explosive - blew up near Ealing Broadway railway station seconds after midnight on Friday.

It was left in a grey Saab saloon near a busy pub in Uxbridge Road, about 100m from the underground and mainline railway station and yards from still busy bars.

The blast, which sent up a sheet of flame and smashed numerous shop windows in a 200m radius, happened minutes before 150 people were about to leave a karaoke night at the nearest pub.

Click here to see a map of the blast area

The aftermath of the bombing caused commuter chaos and shopkeepers face a wait before they can get access to the area around the blast to begin the costly clean-up.

A meeting of residents and business owners at Ealing Town Hall was told that even local police officers are not allowed through as investigators painstakingly sift for evidence.

The area around Ealing Broadway shopping centre was also hit by flooding after the blast, with a burst pipe leaving up to two feet of water gushing through the streets.

The attack, suspected to be the work of the Real IRA, comes as parties are considering whether to accept a political package from the British and Irish governments.

On Wednesday a 20kg car bomb was defused at Belfast International Airport.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Alan Fry, head of the Metropolitan Police's anti-terrorist branch, said the blast had similarities to previous Real IRA attacks.

Police cordons

A phone warning was made at 2333BST on Thursday to an on-call doctor service and the device exploded as police were searching for the vehicle.

Victim Richard Seaman told the BBC that he had been let through police cordons seconds before the bomb went off and was only yards away.

Mr Seaman, originally from Sheffield, said he was now considering moving away from London. His girlfriend was also among those injured.

The car, a grey Saab 9000 turbo five-door with the registration E304 HPY, is thought to have been placed at around 2300BST.

"We are fortunate indeed that we are not dealing with mass murder," Mr Fry said, describing the planting of the bomb as a "barbaric act".

Mr Fry was unable to confirm whether the timing of the bomb was linked directly to the peace process and said he hoped it was unrelated to the Queen Mother's 101st birthday.

Non-existent road

Mr Fry said police were told the bomb was in Ealing Broadway Road, which does not exist, and no time of detonation was given.

Seven people, including a woman police officer, five men and a woman, were admitted to Ealing Hospital. Three were quickly released.

The Real IRA first came to international prominence in August 1998 with the Omagh bomb which killed 29 people and wounded 200 others.

Mr Fry said the bomb was about twice the size of a taxi bomb - blamed on the Real IRA - that detonated outside BBC Television Centre in March.

Since then, the group has been blamed for a series of explosions in Northern Ireland as well as a spate of attacks in west London.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001