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08/09/2003
London exercise prepares for terror attack
Lunchtime in London yesterday saw some 500 emergency workers - many kitted out in full-cover protective suits - embarking on an exercise to help deal with the aftermath of a possible terrorist attack.
At 11.50pm on Sunday, the high-profile manoeuvres centred on a counter terrorism operation on a tube train stranded at Bank Station, London.
The drill saw the evacuation of 60 police cadets from an underground train -
stuck in a tunnel 50 yards short of the platform following an "attack" - as the capital’s financial centre became a throng of police, firefighters and paramedics, all of whom took part in decontamination and evacuation procedures.
London’s Mayor Ken Livingstone said that the exercise was to test procedures and “minimise loss of life” in the event of an attack.
Among the first on the scene were around 200 police officers decked out in gas masks and coverall protective suits who quickly sealed off the area. Within 30 minutes the first fire engines arrived, and the fire crews - wearing shiny new pale green gas-tight suits - entered the station.
Although organisers said the £500,000 exercise was not designed either to assess response times or specific procedures to handle a particular form of attack, the scene was a chilling reminder of those seen during the 1995 terrorist nerve gas attack on the Tokyo underground.
In that incident, some of the casualties were emergency workers who rushed to assist at the scene and had entered the station with little or no effective protection when Sarin gas was still present.
The nearby University College Hospital, which had closed its doors for three hours, dealt with and “decontaminated” 20 casualties.
The Government have pointed out that it was not responding to any specific threat, but the exercise was just four days before the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
On Friday, US President George W Bush declared the September 6th weekend a national period of prayer and remembrance.
(SP)
At 11.50pm on Sunday, the high-profile manoeuvres centred on a counter terrorism operation on a tube train stranded at Bank Station, London.
The drill saw the evacuation of 60 police cadets from an underground train -
stuck in a tunnel 50 yards short of the platform following an "attack" - as the capital’s financial centre became a throng of police, firefighters and paramedics, all of whom took part in decontamination and evacuation procedures.
London’s Mayor Ken Livingstone said that the exercise was to test procedures and “minimise loss of life” in the event of an attack.
Among the first on the scene were around 200 police officers decked out in gas masks and coverall protective suits who quickly sealed off the area. Within 30 minutes the first fire engines arrived, and the fire crews - wearing shiny new pale green gas-tight suits - entered the station.
Although organisers said the £500,000 exercise was not designed either to assess response times or specific procedures to handle a particular form of attack, the scene was a chilling reminder of those seen during the 1995 terrorist nerve gas attack on the Tokyo underground.
In that incident, some of the casualties were emergency workers who rushed to assist at the scene and had entered the station with little or no effective protection when Sarin gas was still present.
The nearby University College Hospital, which had closed its doors for three hours, dealt with and “decontaminated” 20 casualties.
The Government have pointed out that it was not responding to any specific threat, but the exercise was just four days before the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
On Friday, US President George W Bush declared the September 6th weekend a national period of prayer and remembrance.
(SP)
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Man Who Hid In Bed After Killing Two Colleagues Found Guilty Of Murder
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