1984 Heathrow Airport bombing

1984 Heathrow Airport bombing
	Heathrow Terminal 2
Location	Heathrow Airport, England, United Kingdom
Date	20 April 1984 ; 7:55 pm (GMT)
Target	Heathrow Airport
Attack type	Time bomb
Deaths	0
Injured	22

On 20 April 1984, a bomb exploded in the baggage area of Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport. The bomb exploded at 7:55 pm, as 60 people were inside the baggage area. Commander William Hucklesby, at the time head of Scotland Yard's anti-terror branch, reported that the detonated device was constructed using two pounds of commercial or military grade explosives.[1] A hospital spokesperson stated that all but five victims were released shortly after being treated for minor scrapes, cuts and bruises.[1]

John MacIntyre, a British customs official stationed in Terminal 2 when the detonation occurred said ''There was a bloody big flash, a bang and lots of smoke. I saw a British Airways bloke with blood all over the back of his shirt. There was an Iberian Airways lost-baggage representative as well. He didn't seem to have any blood on him but he was soaking wet. I gathered the central heating unit had blown up or the pipes had burst." [1]

The blast injured 22, one seriously.[1] The Angry Brigade, an anarchist group, claimed responsibility for the bombing.[2][3] British officials dismissed the claim, and instead pointed their fingers at "Libyan-related Arab groups".[4] coming just three days after the murder of Yvonne Fletcher and wounding of 10 other demonstrators in the street by machine gun fire outside the Libyan Embassy in London. Libyan Arab Airlines used Terminal 2 for its flights into London Heathrow, which raised suspicion as to whether the two events were related. Scotland Yard investigators said that no planes had arrived from Tripoli, with the most recent being around noon, eight hours prior to the detonation. The area of the terminal where the detonation was pinpointed to served as a storage facility for unclaimed baggage and bags that were to be rerouted to the correct destination. Explosive-detecting K9 units were dispatched to other parts of the airport, but no other explosives were found.

References

Jon Nordheimer (21 April 1984). "23 Are Wounded by London Bomb". The New York Times.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/16/world/unsolved-bombings Unsolved Bombings
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZDdSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TDYNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1238,2434010&dq=heathrow+bomb+attack&hl=en
País, Ediciones El (22 April 1984). "La policía británica cree que el atentado del viernes en el aeropuerto de Heathrow es obra de un grupo terrorista árabe". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 August 2017.

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[:0-1] Jon Nordheimer (21 April 1984). "23 Are Wounded by London Bomb". The New York Times.

[2] ttp://www.cnn.com/2016/09/16/world/unsolved-bombings Unsolved Bombings

[3] ttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZDdSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TDYNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1238,2434010&dq=heathrow+bomb+attack&hl=en

[4] País, Ediciones El (22 April 1984). "La policía británica cree que el atentado del viernes en el aeropuerto de Heathrow es obra de un grupo terrorista árabe". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 August 2017.