AP/RN: IRA Ends Ceasefire - Bombs CanaryWharf In London
Arm The Spirit
At 7.01pm on February 9, 1996, a massive IRA bomb detonated at
South Quay station beside Canary Wharf on the Isle of Dogs in
London. Massive damage was caused to the area and two civilians,
Inan Bashir and John Jeffries, were killed.
IRA coded warnings about the location of Friday's bomb had
been issued at 5.41pm allowing British police an hour and twenty
minutes to evacuate the area.
The warnings included one to RTE in Dublin, while several
others were also communicated to other news agencies in Belfast
and Dublin. A warning relayed to the Irish News in Belfast stated
the bomb's location as: "South Quay Station, Marsh Wall, Isle of
Dogs, London". Scotland Yard and the RUC were thus aware of the
precise location of the device. The statement also warned:
"Immediate evacuation".
Following the huge blast a further statement from Oglaigh na
hEireann was released shortly before 1pm, Saturday, February 10,
1996.
It read: "Volunteers of Oglaigh na hEireann planted the bomb
which exploded in Canary Wharf in London. They did so under the
direct instructions of the army leadership. The regrettable
injuries could have been avoided had the British security forces
acted promptly on clear and specific warnings."
The bodies of the two civilians were found in the rubble of
the blast at 8pm on Saturday.
The massive damage caused by the bomb will run into tens of
millions of pounds, stated John Gale a director of Harris Claims
insurers who has clients in the area. The buildings, mostly
office blocks, which took the brunt of the blast were the
Beaufort Court, Euro Trade Centre, South Quays 1, 2 and 3. The
South Quay Plaza was totally destroyed.
Badly damaged companies included Builder House owned by
Builder Group Plc, Midland Bank, Guardian Printworks, Bell Cable
Media (the third largest cable TV and telecommunications company
in Britain), and South Quay railway station.
"The damage is severe", said Gale. "There is going to have
to be a certain amount of controlled demolition." Estimates by
the Association of British Insurers say the damage may be as high
as 150 million pounds.
Despite the IRA warnings only four London police officers
were directed by Assistant Commissioner Anderson Dunn to clear
the station, while train services south, beyond Canary Wharf,
were only suspended at 6.pm.
Over the next hour 16 more police officers were sent to the
area.
Dockland workers and residents of the Isle of Dogs asked why
so many people were on the Quay when the bomb, which killed two
men and injured over 50 others, exploded although nearby office
blocks were evacuated a full 45 minutes before the blast.
Residents were told nothing.
Tony Ashkins, of Albert Grove, said: "If they knew about the
bomb an hour before it happened, then why didn't they put a
warning on the early evening news."
Father Christopher Owens of St Lukes, Barkentine Estate
said: "Planting the bomb was of course wrong, but the nationalist
community must be very angry with John Major for wantonly
throwing a spanner in the works of the peace process."
Neville Walker, one of those injured said that he had been
evacuated from his offices a few yards from the seat of the
blast, only to be told he could go back 10 minutes later. He was
at his desk on the fourth floor at Franklin Mint 30 minutes later
when the explosion wrecked the building. Other workers in this
building had gathered outside the rear of the building, 50 yards
from the bomb, but were allowed back in again several minutes
later.
Many others described how the police did not suggest any
sense of urgency, with people ambling about near the truck
containing the explosives.
Carolyn Vautier, another office worker had actually been
trying to buy a ticket at South Quay station minutes before the
blast while Steve Holmes, owner of the nearby Tradewinds bar,
said: "No-one had said a word to us and people were coming and
going freely."
A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard revealed that it was their
policy not to evacuate office blocks nor presumably the
newsagency at the location where the IRA had warned the bomb was.
It was here the two men died.
It emerged that while some buildings were evacuated, others
were alerted to the danger but people were told to stay inside.
Several businesses that did not receive warnings said they would
seek meetings with the London police authorities as soon as
possible.
Thatcher's showpiece Canary Wharf development, which she
opened, has recently been rescued by a consortium of banks, but
the explosion is likely to make the 2.8 million square feet of
empty property even harder to let.
Just days before the attack, at a lecture organised by the
Corporation of London, British Deputy Prime Minister Michael
Heseltine, he described London as one of the world's top
financial capitals, employing 600,000 people.
Heseltine said London carried out foreign exchange deals
worth 450 billion dollars a day, more than the U.S. and Japan put
together. London he concluded was the Eurobond dealing capital of
the world and in 1994 over half of the international equity
trading was carried out there.
"The City of London remains the powerhouse of the British
economy, and if capital could somehow be induced to flee, then
the country would be sorely damaged", said the Daily Telegraph'
City Comment on Monday.
(Source: An Phoblacht/Republican News - Thursday, February 15,
1996)
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