Bomb explodes in gay bar in Soho, London
scraping mik off the wheel
in London's Soho, killing at least 2 people, and injuring
about 40. The bar that was hit was the Admiral Duncan,
a bar in the center of London's gay street, Old Compton's
street. In the last few weeks the black community (in Brixton)
and the Asian community (Brick Lane) have been hit by nail
bombs, and warnings had been out that the gay community might
be next.
The bomb exploded at about 6:30pm, on a very warm and
extremely busy Friday night, at the start of a long holiday
weekend (Bank Holiday).
mik, who was there about 4 hours ago (posting from London)
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Christian Hansen
<mik...@my-dejanews.com> wrote:
>About 2 hours ago a nail bomb has exploded at a gay bar
>in London's Soho, killing at least 2 people, and injuring
>about 40. The bar that was hit was the Admiral Duncan,
>a bar in the center of London's gay street, Old Compton's
>street. In the last few weeks the black community (in Brixton)
>and the Asian community (Brick Lane) have been hit by nail
>bombs, and warnings had been out that the gay community might
>be next.
>
>The bomb exploded at about 6:30pm, on a very warm and
>extremely busy Friday night, at the start of a long holiday
>weekend (Bank Holiday).
>
>mik, who was there about 4 hours ago (posting from London)
Oh, gosh...
The current toll is 3 dead, 70 injured.
They have a description of a suspect, and Sir Paul Condon, head of the
Metropolitan Police, has just had a news conference.
It is likely that this bomb, being a nail bomb, was perpetrated by the same
people who left the bombs in Brixton and Brick Lane several weeks ago.
Those who are prayers, please do so. There is a march in Brixton tomorrow
against Racism and Fascism. There will be a gay and lesbian contingent, and I
think I'll skip the May Fair at church and march in that instead.
--
Chris Hansen
chris at hansenhome dot demon dot co dot uk
John Fisher
<mik...@my-dejanews.com> writes
>About 2 hours ago a nail bomb has exploded at a gay bar
>in London's Soho, killing at least 2 people, and injuring
>about 40. The bar that was hit was the Admiral Duncan,
>a bar in the center of London's gay street, Old Compton's
>street. In the last few weeks the black community (in Brixton)
>and the Asian community (Brick Lane) have been hit by nail
>bombs, and warnings had been out that the gay community might
>be next.
>
>The bomb exploded at about 6:30pm, on a very warm and
>extremely busy Friday night, at the start of a long holiday
>weekend (Bank Holiday).
>
>mik, who was there about 4 hours ago (posting from London)
The report now is that at least 70 people were injured. Of about 50
people admitted to hospital two more are described as being in a
critical condition and eleven more as serisouly injured.
TV pictures show the pub (the Admiral Duncan, Old Compton Street) as
totally wrecked.
The police say they think the attack is connected with the other two
attacks in Brixton and Brick Lane which mik mentions, last weekend and
the the weekend before, the first of which injured around forty people.
All have clearly been set to explode when the target places are crammed
with people. No warnings were given. The supposition is that they are
all the work of fascists. The Home Secretary said "We are dealing with
people with twisted minds, racists and homophobes, but the British
people will not be intimidated."
No pasara'n.
--John
--
John Fisher jo...@drummond.demon.co.uk jo...@epcc.ed.ac.uk
scraping mik off the wheel
>
> About 2 hours ago a nail bomb has exploded at a gay bar
> in London's Soho,
The latest news so far is that there are 2 deaths, and about
75 injured, amongst whom 30 seriously. Most of them have
been struck by glass and nails, and some will have to miss
limbs. Most of the victims are men in the twenties and thirties.
I've just been down to the West End, and most of Soho is
blocked off by the police. The athmosphere in the rest of
the West End is strange: most people just party like it's any
other warm Friday night, right before the Holiday weekend.
The gay bars that are not closed are definitely not as busy
as they usually are, and bags are inspected at the door.
The police even came to inspect a bar I was in, to look
for a suspect. The police seem to have clear picture of
who he is, since the morning papers already show a (computer?)
picture of who he might be, as I've just seen on television.
There's going to be a big anti-racist demonstration tomorrow in
Brixton, a neighbourhood that was struck two weeks ago by a
similar bomb, probably put there by the same people that put
the bomb in the Admiral Duncan. There will be a large gay
group joining that march.
More later,
mik
scraping mik off the wheel
scraping mik off the wheel
critical condition. Four people have been arrested, one might
be linked to all three bombs that have hit London in the last
2 weeks (2 weeks ago in Brixton, in the heart of the black
community, last week near Brick Lane, the heart of the Asian
community). A right-wing organisation called the White Wolves
have claimed responsibility.
Most of Compton's street, London's versions of Castro Street
or Christopher Street, and at most times even busier than
Castro/Christopher street, is still mostly blocked off. A
telephone number has been given for people who suspect that
friends of them might have been present at the Admiral Duncan
last night. This number is: 0171-8347777.
mik, who'll be going to Soho later
scraping mik off the wheel
surrounding streets are still blocked off by the police. The
atmosphere is erie: while on some terraces people are eating
and drinking like nothing has happened, a lot of people wander
around to see if they can find their friends and acquaintances,
and flowers have been put down at one of the fences. A nice
gesture: a homeless man gave me a rose to put down at the spot
where the explosion took place. Most bars in the area are open,
but there's not a lot of people in them. Old Compton's Cafe,
one of the most populair gay coffeeshops has been swamped by
jounalists, who are not always very sensitive: "hi, I'm, from
ITN, do you know anybody that got injured in the explosion?"
Where usually the queens are watching the trade walk by the
view is now blocked by two television truck from the BBC and
Reuters.
The news is still that two people have died, a man and a woman.
5 people have been arrested, but 4 of them have been released
again. In a house in Hampshire explosives have been found.
Helicopters are still hovering over the city.
mik
John Whiteside
<jo...@drummond.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> Meanwhile the police have now arrested four people in connection with
> the bombing in Brixton earlier. The first three were apparently not
> serious suspects, but the most recent is. Apparently explosive or
> inflammable materials were found at his house.
In more fun news, two synagogues in Moscow were bombed and it looks
like anti-Semitism was indeed a factor.
http://cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9905/01/BC-RUSSIA-BLAST.reut/index.html
Is this some Millennium version of spring fever?
John Fisher
<jo...@drummond.demon.co.uk> writes
>
>Just a follow-up:
Just another follow-up:
Another person has died, making three; a woman and a man, and now
another man. The first two were so badly injured that they are having
to be identified by dental records. Three others are said to be in a
critical condition.
Not all of those injured were gay.
Meanwhile the police have now arrested four people in connection with
the bombing in Brixton earlier. The first three were apparently not
serious suspects, but the most recent is. Apparently explosive or
inflammable materials were found at his house.
--John
scraping mik off the wheel
"Most of the Sunday newspapers focus on the bomb blast at a gay
pub in London's Soho, with front page leads accompanied by
analysis, commentand graphic pictures of the scene. Several
papers report that the woman killed was Andrea Dykes, 27, from
Colchester, Essex, who was married and pregnant.
They say her husband, Julian, was seriously injured and the best
man from their 1997 wedding, John Light, 35, was also killed. The
names of the three who died in Friday's nail bomb have yet to be
confirmed by police."
J Fisher
: From the BBC homepage:
:
: "Most of the Sunday newspapers focus on the bomb blast at a gay
: pub in London's Soho, with front page leads accompanied by
: analysis, commentand graphic pictures of the scene. Several
: papers report that the woman killed was Andrea Dykes, 27, from
: Colchester, Essex, who was married and pregnant.
:
: They say her husband, Julian, was seriously injured and the best
: man from their 1997 wedding, John Light, 35, was also killed. The
: names of the three who died in Friday's nail bomb have yet to be
: confirmed by police."
As I said, they don't really care who they kill so long as
they get some queers. Damn them. It was just the same in
Brixton, where they got some white people along with the
Afro-Carribeans they were after. I suppose that's what
fascists really dislike - that people ever so gradually
should learn to live together.
--John
John Fisher
and three counts of causing an explosion with intent to endanger life.
In other words they think he was responsible for all the three
explosions which have happened in the last two weeks; the one at Brixton
which injured 39 people; the one in Brick Lane which injured four; and
the Soho bomb. The police think he is not a member of an organised
rightwing group, but was operating by himself. If that's so, then
perhaps this particular horror is finished.
The identity of the third dead person has not so far been released,
although it is apparently known. None of the identities of the injured
have been released; the police are apparently concerned that they might
out them by mistake.
Meanwhile thousands of people gathered in Soho Square for a vigil,
organised by the London Gay Men's Choir. Messages of sympathy from the
Queen and Tony Blair were read out. One of those who addressed the
meeting was the Home Office minister Paul Boateng, who, btw, is himself
black.
Blair this afternoon addressed the International Sikh Conference which
happens to be happening. He said many good things for which I am
grateful. Without being churlish, I would be more impressed if he
undertook to reintroduce the Age of Consent Bill without delay. That
would show that he really believed, as he said, that it's the racists
and the intolerant who are the real minority, the real outcasts, in our
society.
After an appeal from the London hospitals for people to donate blood,
they have apparently been overwhelmed by the response. I find that
rather moving, considering that gay men are not allowed to donate blood;
it must be other people who have answered this appeal.
J Fisher
: From the BBC homepage:
:
: "Most of the Sunday newspapers focus on the bomb blast at a gay
: pub in London's Soho, with front page leads accompanied by
: analysis, commentand graphic pictures of the scene. Several
: papers report that the woman killed was Andrea Dykes, 27, from
: Colchester, Essex, who was married and pregnant.
:
: They say her husband, Julian, was seriously injured and the best
: man from their 1997 wedding, John Light, 35, was also killed. The
: names of the three who died in Friday's nail bomb have yet to be
: confirmed by police."
All these names have been confirmed, and the name of the
third person killed has been announced. He was Nick Moore,
also of Colchester, a friend of Andrea and Julian Dykes. He
was gay. A fifth member of their party was seriously
injured. They were all planning to go to the Abba musical
Mamma Mia, playing at the Prince Edward theatre a few doors
away.
--John