According to emergency medical service (EMS) officers, several people were trapped by the blast that ripped through the station. One account says that it was necessary to amputate the limbs of at least one passenger, in order to extricate them from the wreakage. Emergency officials say that they were on the scene within minutes of the 17:30p.m.(1530GMT) explosion, that occurred during afternoon rush hour. Early rescuer reports said that at least ten of the injured were in critical condition and that many had suffered shrapnel wounds to the head and chest. Others were reported with "crushing injuries" and "broken bones", according to one unidentified rescuer.
Police said that the type and size of the bomb was unknown, but that the destruction was "probably" caused by a "explosive device". One eyewitness said that the explosion had emulated from within one of the cars of the train, that was in the station at the time of the blast. A police spokesperson said that no one had claimed responsibility for the blast, but that concerns have been raised of the possible involvement of disputes involving the radical Islamic Salvation Front and French intervention in Algeria.
In a possibly related story, Algerian officials are reporting a car bomb attack today in Meftah, 20 miles Southeast of Algiers, which killed five (5) people and wounded another seven (7). Experts say that this bombing is the latest in a series of bombings of buses and other targets in a number of areas surrounding Algiers. Reportedly, several "improvised" bombs have been set off in buses and on highways and bridges in recent days. Traffic has reportedly been delayed or re-routed in or near Tizi Ouzou, a town 60 miles East of Algiers. At least two other bridges have been damaged in the past week, by "suspicious explosions", of an unknown origin.
In one more related story, a bus bomb exploded in central Pakistan on Sunday (07/23), killing three (3) and wounding another twenty-five (25). The bomb exploded on the bus as it was traveling through Kasur, on its way to Kot Radha Kishan. Police reportedly have not identified the bombers, but officials said that the attack fits a pattern consistent with previous Islamic extremist violence.
ERRI analysts said that this latest wave of bombings, allegedly carried out by Islamic extremists, parallels the level of terrorist activity that proceeded the World Trade Center bombing. At least one ERRI analyst said that he fears that this latest wave of violence could also involve the United States. He pointed to earlier U.S. State Department warnings of a suspected plot to attack an American target in South America, and said that he would suggest expanding that warning to also include the continental United States.
Speculation about those responsible for the detonation has centered on Islamic extremists and links to disputes about the establishment of a Moslem government in Algeria. As of the time of this report, however, no one has claimed actual responsibility for the heinous act. French police were reported to have detained two individuals for questioning, immediately following the blast, but no charges have been filed and it is believed that they may have been merely witnesses to the event.
The bomb itself reportedly was constructed from a butane/propane canister that had been emptied and filled with explosives and nails and bolts. A anonymous Paris Fire Department source said that the device was similar in nature to another bomb which exploded in a Paris subway approximately three weeks ago. The previous St. Michel subway explosion claimed the lives of seven (7) people and injured eighty (80) more.
According to French emergency officials, the entire area near the Champs-Elys‚es and the Arc de Triumph was closed and evacuated soon after the blast, as police officers and explosives detecting dogs searched trash cans and other likely hiding places for additional devices. Sources close to the Paris police said that the device was particularly troubling because it was designed to cause maximum injuries or deaths among those in the vicinity. They pointed to the use of nails and other metal objects that would become shrapnel as the device detonated.
French Prime Minister Alain Juppe reportedly visited the disaster site shortly after the explosion and attempted to reassure the spirits of Parisians and by asking them not to "give in to the psychosis (of terrorism)". Juppe reportedly said that he had allocated more than 200 police officers to the investigation of the previous subway bombing, and that number would be increased as dictated by the requirements of the current crisis. Fears were raised within the government that this latest attack was only part of yet another wave of terror, similar to a 1986 series of bombings which claimed thirteen (13) lives in Paris.
Unfortunately for the bombers, and fortunate for Paris residents, a passerby noticed the device in the trash can and called for the police and fire brigade. According to Justice Minister Jacques Toubon, the device exploded as emergency officials were preparing to defuse it. Toubon said that by the time the bomb went off, people had already voluntarily evacuated the area, thus preventing a massive number of injuries. At least nine people were, however, reported injured as a result of the blast, two of them described by ambulance personnel as "serious".
An unidentified police bomb squad officer said that the type of device was also becoming familiar to French police, as it was comprised of a detonator, and a "camping gas canister" with nuts, nails, and bolts attached. The technique is one that has been previously used by the Armed Islamic Group or GIA. The Algerian-based GIA is suspected of involvement in all of the recent bombings in France. Police say that no one has claimed responsibility for today's bombing.
Ironically, and probably purposefully, the bombing took place at a subway station by the same name (Maison Blanche)as the village where suspected Islamic terrorist Khalid Kelkal was killed in a gunbattle with police on Sept. 29th. Today's bombing took place shortly after Kelkal's funeral, which was held in the Lyon's suburb of Rillieux-La-Pape. Counter-terrorist experts say that today's bombing was undoubtedly in retribution for Kelkal's death at the hands of French police. French police and counter-terrorist forces say that they remain on maximum alert for further insurgent activity and that hundreds of police and military personnel have been assigned to the prevention of additional acts.
(c) Emergencynet NEWS Service, 1995
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(Ed. Note: This ENN report is part of a more than 12 year on-going study of terrorists, tactics, leaders, and manifestations of terrorism by the Emergency Response & Research Institute. Feel free to contact us for additional information, background materials, or analysis of on-going events)
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