Tube Terrorism Threat

Three men have been charged by Scotland Yard under the Terrorism Act with possessing articles for the preparations, instigation and commission of terrorist acts. They have not been charged with a specific terrorist attact.

The Tube has been overshadowed by the threat of a terrorist attack for years. Secret germ warfare trials were conducted in the 1960s to see how far agents could potentially spread. The answer was up to 10 miles.

London Underground have asked passengers to report anything suspicious to staff immediately. "We are continually updating our security measures and take advice from the police and other agencies. We also have close circuit television. We train all our staff to deal with emergency situations and look out for suspicious and unusual.

In 1995 there was a Sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway that resulted in 12 people being killed and over 5000 injured.

The UK Government is due to start a poster campaign in the New Year telling people how to survive a biological or chemical attack. The advice includes taking shallow breaths and fleeing the area.

Monday, 18th November 2002