On Friday 28 February 1992, the Provisional IRA (PIRA) exploded a bomb inside London Bridge station during the morning rush hour, causing extensive damage and wounding 29 people. A day later, a device exploded at the Crown Prosecution Service in London, injuring a further two people.
The attacks were carried out by one of the PIRA's London active service units who were becoming increasingly more active and frequently targeting more train stations. It occurred just over a year after a bomb at Victoria station.
Video 1992 London Bridge bombing
Bombing
Around 8:20 am, someone rang Ulster Television's London office warning that a bomb was going to explode in a London station, without saying which one. About ten minutes later, the bomb detonated, which made debris fly almost fifty feet away from the blast area. Twenty nine people were hurt in the explosion, most of them from flying glass and other bits of debris; four were seriously hurt but nobody was killed.
The victims were treated at Guy's Hospital.
Maps 1992 London Bridge bombing
Aftermath
The head of Scotland Yard's anti terrorist squad, George Churchill-Coleman, said the two lb bomb of high explosives was "clearly designed to kill." Investigations suggested that the bomb was placed in the men's restrooms. Churchill-Coleman added that the IRA's warning was "deliberately vague" and was given too late to act upon.
Prime Minister John Major said the bombing would not change British policy in Northern Ireland. "It was pointless. It was cowardly. It was directed against innocent people and it will make absolutely no difference to our policy -- no difference at all." Home Secretary Kenneth Baker said it was a "callous attack".
Fearing additional IRA attacks on public transport, the security services warned commuters "more than ever" to stay on guard at all times. The next day, another bomb went off in London, by the Crown Prosecution Service office, injuring two more people and bringing the total injured to 31 in the space of just over 24 hours.
This was one of dozens of bombs that detonated in London that year, the biggest of which was the Baltic Exchange bombing, killing three people and causing almost £1 billion worth of damage. The IRA maintained this pressure, bombing mainland Britain and especially the city of London as much as possible until the ceasefire of 1994.
See also
- Victoria station and Paddington station bombings
- Downing Street mortar attack
- 1992 Manchester bombing
- Cannon Street train bombing
Sources
- CAIN project
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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