Times Online:
The “patio gas” bomb defused in Haymarket would have generated a fireball the size of a house and a shock wave spreading out over a diameter of at least 400 yards, explosives experts said today.
The propane cylinders and petrol used in the device would have triggered a huge conflagration, as well as causing shrapnel and blast injuries from the exploding car chassis and the nails packed around the bomb, according to Hans Michels, Professor of Safety Engineering at Imperial College, London.
Just one 13kg propane canister — the type sold by Calor under the brand name “Patio Gas” — would release a highly flammable cloud of vapour that would spread over an area of 50 to 60 cubic metres before igniting into a still larger fireball, he said.
“The vapour cloud from one cylinder would fill the order of a big room, and when it ignited the effect would be even bigger,” Professor Michels said. “In addition to the power of the explosion and the shrapnel, you would get a fireball the size of a small house.”
As several propane or butane cylinders were recovered, the volume of the fireball would have been greater still, though it is impossible to calculate the size without knowing how much gas would have been involved.
The CNN tells us about the second car:
LONDON, England (CNN) -- As authorities were investigating an explosives-packed car discovered outside a nightclub near Piccadilly Circus on Friday, a second vehicle was found in London that had similar explosive material inside, security sources said.
The second car had been parked underground near Trafalgar Square in an area where parking was not allowed.
Workers towed it to a lot on Park Lane near Buckingham Palace and thought it smelled of gasoline. Given the reports that gas canisters were among the explosive material found in the other car, they became suspicious, security sources said.
Authorities then blocked off a section of Park Lane while they examined the car and discovered the material.
The sources did not say exactly what was found in the second car, but a U.S. source with knowledge of Britain's investigation said the second vehicle is linked to the first.
The Blotter tells us that there is suspected involvement from, BIG SURPRISE, Islamic Extremists.
British police have a "crystal clear" picture of the man who drove the bomb-rigged silver Mercedes outside a London nightclub, and officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com he bears "a close resemblance" to a man arrested by police in connection with another bomb plot but released for lack of evidence.
Officials say the suspect had been taken into custody in connection with the case of al Qaeda operative Dhiren Barot (pictured), who was convicted of orchestrating a vehicle bomb plot involving targets in London, New York, Newark, N.J. and Washington, D.C.
Officials say a surveillance camera caught the suspect "staggering from the Mercedes" shortly after parking it outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub.
CBS shows us the news of words found on a popular Jihadist internet forum hours BEFORE the bombs were found:
Hours before London explosives technicians dismantled a large car bomb in the heart of the British capital's tourist-rich theater district, a message appeared on one of the most widely used jihadist Internet forums, saying: "Today I say: Rejoice, by Allah, London shall be bombed."
CBS News found the posting, which went on for nearly 300 words, on the "al Hesbah" chat room. It was left by a person who goes by the name abu Osama al-Hazeen, who appears regularly on the forum. The comment was posted on the forum, according to time stamp, at 08:09 a.m. British time on June 28 -- about 17 hours before the bomb was found early on June 29.
(Emphasis mine)
The stories and articles keep coming out.
Of course you have those on the left poo pooing the whole thing. So what? Who cares? A big story about nothing. The media shouldn't tell us these things because it scares us.
Lets not forget the "conspiracy theorists, one example: Brainless at Breakfast. (And lunch and dinner too)
After years of having Tony Blair as his own personal valet, George W. Bush now has to deal with Gordon Brown. Brown has been a supporter of the Iraq War, but there's no guarantee that he's the kind of true believer in the PNAC neocon agenda that Blair was. So it's just perhaps a bit too convenient for George Bush that a car packed with fuel was found in London's West End early this morning.
Move right along, nothing to see here folks.
Yup, they are serious about Security and Safety aren't they?
Of course they should be trusted with National Security because they know that if we ignore this it will simply go away, at least they will ignore it until it hits them, their families or children then it is Bush's fault for ignoring it and the media didn't do its job by reporting it.
Yeah, makes perfect sense. For those that have no firm grasp on reality that is.
How about those that think all Islamic extremist terrorism is Bush's fault, EVEN the terror attacks, hundreds of them BEFORE 9/11.
What a joke.
Excellent roundup and updates over at Hot Air.
The Corner points to the irony of having a failed bomb attempt to a successful one:
Anyway, the irony is that from a policy standpoint, it seems to me that security officials have to view things like the failed London bombing as basically no different than a successful bombing. But because the bombing failed, the policy options to security officials are far narrower precisely because the bombing failed and therefore didn't rouse the sort of political reaction it might otherwise have.
Isn't that the truth!!!!
London managed to foil a potentially disasterous situation today and instead of seeing the threats for what they are, we have people playing politics with this story.
Get a grip folks, just because you deny that there is a terrorist out there doesn't mean he doesn't want you dead, it just means you are too ignorant to see it coming and too stupid to take measures to protect yourselves.
This fits right in with Right Truth's mose recent post "News that makes you go "huh?" .
Mine would be, Reactions that make you go huh?
It would do us all well to realize there IS a threat out there and work together to keep our country safe instead of playing politics with our lives.
I will leave you with Gordon Brown, the new Prime Minister's, words here, via Daily Mail:
Gordon Brown said today's attempt was a reminder that Britain faces "a serious and continuous security threat".
Now if only Americans would understand that same thing.
[Update] Hot Air has more updates on a new thread, so here ya go.
[Update] 6/30/07- A driver tried to ram a burning Jeep Cherokee into the main terminal building of Glasgow airport Saturday, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported, citing witnesses.
LONDON - Detectives hunted Saturday for suspects who abandoned two explosives-packed cars in the heart of London's nightlife district, reviewing closed circuit television footage and scouring the vehicles for clues.
Amid fears of further attacks, a burning sport utility vehicle crashed at full speed into the terminal building at Glasgow airport in Scotland, police and witnesses said.
Expect more of this and be prepared for this same type of thing to start happening here in the US.
Tracked back by:
Random things - Jessie Davis, London Terror and iPhone from My Internal Dialog by Salvia...
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