A blazing Cherokee Jeep smashed into the main terminal building at Scotland’s Glasgow airport on Saturday, police said, a day after two car bombings were foiled in central London.
Police said two people were arrested in Saturday’s incident at about 3.15pm local time. The airport was closed afterwards. There were no reports of any injuries.
Britain’s new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, was ”being kept aware” of the situation, his office said.
Witness James Edgar said barriers prevented the Jeep from completely entering the terminal building.
Other witnesses told television news that two men were in the car. They added that a man with his clothes on fire left the vehicle and was restrained by members of the public. The flames were put out with a fire extinguisher.
Witness Ian Crosby said the Jeep drove across a central reservation before smashing into the terminal’s doors.
BBC television, meanwhile, showed still images of the scene, one which showed the blazing Jeep crashing into the building. Another showed a ball of fire and thick black smoke billowing skywards.
Edgar said there was ”absolute chaos” at the airport. ”I was in the airport building trying to book a holiday and people were running past us and then suddenly they told us all to get out of the airport,” he told Sky News television.
”When we went out the main building there was a 4×4, as if it was rammed into the building. It was on fire and at that point everybody was just in a panic.”
Edgar added that police and security scuffled with an Asian man.
Scott Leeson, another witness, said that the car was driving at about 20km/h approaching the terminal building. ”Then the driver swerved the car around so he could ram straight into the door. He must have been trying to smash straight through.”
The incident occurred as British police ratcheted up security in London on Saturday, a day after foiling a potentially devastating double car bombing, reviving fears of al-Qaeda-type terrorism in the capital.
Speaking after crisis ministerial talks, and as a massive manhunt continued for the drivers of two cars full of gas canisters and nails, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said Britons must remain vigilant. — AFP
