Explosives-packed car defused in London

Jun 29, 8:52 AM (ET)

By D'ARCY DORAN and DAVID STRINGER

LONDON (AP) - Police thwarted an apparent terror attack Friday near Piccadilly Circus, defusing an explosive car loaded with gas cylinders, nails and a detonator after an ambulance crew reported seeing smoke coming from the vehicle.

The explosives were powerful enough to have caused "significant injury or loss of life" - possibly killing hundreds in an area famed for its nightlife, British anti-terror police chief Peter Clarke said.

Police planned to examine footage from closed-circuit TV cameras in the area, Clarke said, hoping the surveillance network that extends throughout the city would help track the driver.

Officers were called to The Haymarket, near Piccadilly Circus, after an ambulance crew - responding to a call just before 1:30 a.m. about an injury at a nearby nightclub - noticed the smoke, Clarke said.

A bomb squad was called to the scene, and manually disabled the bomb.

Early photographs of the silver Mercedes showed a canister, bearing the words "patio gas," indicating it was propane gas, next to the car. The back door was open with blankets spilling out.

The area - packed with restaurants, bars, a cinema complex and theaters - was busy and buzzing at that hour. Haymarket links Piccadilly Circus to the north to the Pall Mall at its southern end.

A British security official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said Britain's domestic spy agency MI5 also would examine possible connections between the bomb attempt and at least two similar foiled plots - including a planned attack on a West End nightclub in 2004 and a thwarted attempt to use limousines packed with gas canisters to attack targets in London and New York.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who took office on Wednesday, said the foiled bombing was a reminder that Britain faces a serious and continuous threat of terrorist attacks and that people should be alert.

"I will stress to the Cabinet that the vigilance must be maintained over the next few days," Brown said.

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