LEAD FOCUS

From the ERRI Watch Center

UNITED KINGDOM (EmergencyNet News) - Scotland Yard said a car bomb exploded in a busy street on Saturday in east London, wounding seven people. A neo-Nazi group has claimed responsibility for the blast. The bomb exploded in late afternoon in Brick Lane, the center of one of the city's biggest Bangladeshi communities and the site of a popular Saturday market.

Police said the blast was caused by a bomb in a car that had been parked in the street shortly before the explosion. It was unclear if the person driving the car was involved. Two hours after the blast, police said they received a call from someone claiming to be from a n extreme right-wing group, Combat 18, saying the organization carried out the bombing.

The same group claimed responsibility for a nail bomb that wounded 39 people on 17 April in Brixton, a racially mixed south London neighborhood. Police said the Brick Lane device was similar to the one used in the Brixton bombing.

The Royal London Hospital in nearby Whitechapel treated two women and three men for minor injuries. Police said a total of seven people were injured.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Alan Fry, of the anti-terrorist branch, said: "This was a sickening racist atrocity. I know the concern these acts will cause all Londoners and we will continue the increased, overt, anti-terrorist patrolling throughout the streets of the capital. Officers will continue to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to hunt down those responsible for these attacks and bring them to justice."

It is thought that a motorist discovered the bomb and was attempting to drive it towards a nearby police station when it went off. His car was ripped apart but he escaped with only slight injuries. If reports are true, the unnamed motorist's actions prevented a huge number of casualties because the vehicle took much of the force of the blast.

LEAD FOCUS

From the ERRI Watch Center

UNITED KINGDOM (EmergencyNet News) - It is not known who is responsible for a nail bomb which exploded outside a supermarket on a crowded London street wounding dozens of people on Saturday.

Of 39 people -- including four police officers -- needing treatment at three hospitals, 16 remained overnight for treatment and observation. Among them was a 23-month-old boy who had a nail removed from his skull and underwent emergency surgery and an adult whose condition was described as "serious." Meanwhile, forensic teams were sifting through the evidence at the scene of the blast outside the Iceland store in Brixton on Electric Avenue.

Police say no warning was received in advance about the device, which is believed to have been left in a bag spotted by a member of the public at 1721 hours local time, and which exploded nine minutes later. Commander Hugh Orde, Metropolitan Police head of crime for south-west London, said police were keeping an open mind about who planted the device but branded those responsible as "disturbed." The incident is not believed to be related to Irish terrorism.

A father of two said he moved the bag containing the bomb just seconds before it went off, in a bid to protect children in the busy market. The 42-year-old man said: "A holdall was handed to me by somebody who said someone had forgotten their shopping. I unzipped it and opened it wide and I could see what it was."

He described it as a square device with cellophane and nails. He said: "I picked it up and moved it 10 to 15 yards and put it by a brick wall to stop people getting hurt. I moved it to stop women and kids getting hurt. Then it went off. I was blown across the road and a couple of nails lodged in my leg and I was hit by concrete and glass which fell on me from the Iceland sign."

Former British Army officer Neall Whatley, age 36, one of the first people on the scene, described how he tried to comfort a young girl with a nail embedded in her cheek. Whatley, 17 years a trooper and experienced in anti-terrorist work, said he knew immediately what the loud explosion meant and ran from his place of work to blast scene.

Whatley described what he encountered: "There was one man with severe head, chest and leg injuries and a young child with a nail sticking out of her cheek. There was an almighty crump, people were running in all directions. I knew exactly what it was. I was down there in seconds."

Another witness described: "A friend of mine who is a nurse tried to help patch up the worst. There was a bloke with a nail stuck in his head and another with a nail in his lung."

A community activist in Brixton said he suspected the bomb may have been the work of a racially-motivated far-right group. Brixton has a high concentration of ethnic minority residents and is well known as a center of black culture in London and the scene of race riots in the 1980s. The EmergencyNet News Service, in recent weeks, has provided reports of Ku Klux Klan activity in London and the UK.

Police Commander Orde confirmed there had been no warning to the police by those responsible for the explosion, but they had received a phone call from a member of the public nine minutes before, warning there was a bomb in the area. Two police officers were hurt in the blast while responding to the call.

Scotland Yard said "explosives officers, a police helicopter and all the emergency services" attended the scene with 13 London Fire Brigade crews. Reports of a second device outside a Mothercare store proved to be false and nothing was found.

Scotland Yard today confirmed that 39 people were treated at three hospitals, 30 taken from the scene by ambulance. A spokesman said of the 18 people taken to Kings College Hospital, three were detained, one of them in a "serious" condition. In addition, 12 people were treated at St George's Hospital. Nine were detained including two -- among them a child -- who underwent surgery. Finally, nine victims were taken to St Thomas's Hospital where four were detained, including a woman with a nail embedded in her abdomen, a man with a nail injury to his leg and a 23-month-old boy who had a nail stuck in his skull.

© All materials copyrighted, EmergencyNet NEWS Service, 1999. All Rights Reserved. Redistribution without permission is prohibited by law.