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-   -   Car Crashes in to Glasgow airport (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/car-crashes-in-to-glasgow-airport-717234/)

hetismij Jun 30th, 2007 07:35 AM

Car Crashes in to Glasgow airport
 
A car, on fire already, has crashed into the terminal building at Glasgow airport, in what seems to be a terrorist attack.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6257194.stm

flanneruk Jun 30th, 2007 07:46 AM

The BBC are claiming (1644 UK time) to have been briefed by the UK government that they (the UK government) are treating it as a criminal, not a security, matter.

Dukey Jun 30th, 2007 08:36 AM

Tnis is what happens when you have to tape a laptop GPS to your dashboard I guess.

Jed Jun 30th, 2007 09:21 AM

The 2 men in the car were "Asians".

If the UK govt is treating it as a ciminal, not a security matter, then I wonder if they are doing it so as not to disturb the Mulsims. ((*))

flanneruk Jun 30th, 2007 09:31 AM

They're probably treating it as a criminal issue because there's no virtue in making your mind up prematurely.

Asians get drunk, run protection rackets, have fights with each other and stick GPS computers in the wrong place about as often as whites, Chinese or Caribbeans.

But the British government has the difficulty of being on the spot and having all the information. So much easier being an internet general, armed with lots of nice comforting prejudices.

fnarf999 Jun 30th, 2007 09:35 AM

And treating it as a criminal matter allows the police, who know how to investigate crimes better than intelligence operatives, do their job. Short of rounding up all the Muslims and shooting them, it's difficult to fathom what "treating it as a security matter" means. Let the police do their jobs. They're pretty good at it.

Tomato Jun 30th, 2007 09:40 AM

except when they - the police - mistakenly killed a brazilian guy after the bombings in London 2 years ago.

bettyk Jun 30th, 2007 11:53 AM

Understand now that, according to witnesses, one of the men was shouting "Allah" each time he took a swing at the policeman who had approached the vehicle after it crashed into the airport.

waring Jun 30th, 2007 12:11 PM

"mistakenly killed a brazilian guy"

? They put 7 bullets into his head at point blank range. Mistake? I would call that a major **** up.

Oops, I slipped.

Apparently the 'mistake' happened when a surveillance officer was taking a leak when the 'suspect" left the building being observed. They simply followed the wrong guy with a tan, who was simply on his way to work, while the true suspect stayed indoors.

hetismij Jun 30th, 2007 01:44 PM

This is now being firmly linked with London. No mention of it being merely crimina -it is being handled as terrorist. Bungling terrorists maybe, but terrorists. Apparently they had to know exactly the right line of approach to get the car where they did, it was planned, not a couple of drunks.

joe4212 Jun 30th, 2007 04:11 PM

Just been reading through the BBC website and note that the Glasgow attack has now been linked to those in London.

Whether or not their actions were correct I'm amazed that two Glaswegian guys 'had a go' at one of the terrorists. My Scottish neighbor will be all smiles in the morning!

JJBhoy Jun 30th, 2007 04:30 PM

bettyk,

I live in Glasgow & that particular eyewitness has been interviewed by a number of different media outlets - to be honest, his account of what happened has grown arms & legs as the day has worn on.

He initially said that he wasn't sure if the "terrorist" had said anything. Then he said he thought that he might have shouted "Allah" (but he wasn't sure).

By the end of the day he had the "terrorist" shouting "Allah" with each punch at the policeman. I got the impression that the guy was enjoying telling his story just a little too much & it wouldn't surprise me if I found out that he wasn't particularly well disposed towards the Muslim community in the first place.

Just my opinion of course.

Jim

bettyk Jun 30th, 2007 05:12 PM

Jim, I'm not surprised. Many times, "eye witnesses" recount differing accounts of the same event.

orangetravelcat Jun 30th, 2007 05:21 PM

The BBC website says the hospital the occupant of the car was taken to was evacuated because the person was wearing "a device" of some sort. The Scottish police are saying this was an attempted terrorist attack. I wish these damn people would all just go back to the 12th century where they belong.

Padraig Jun 30th, 2007 11:51 PM

That's an unfair thought, orangetravelcat. They had enough problems in the 12th century without disaffected people attacking their airports in 4x4s.

sheila Jul 1st, 2007 02:00 AM

They arrested two men, one of whom is very badly burnt, at the scene. They alos arrested two (or maybe three) more in a car travelling south through Cheshire on the M6 overnight. They are linking the people in the car with both the London and Glasgow attempts. This could turn into one of those standard Glasgow jokes (Aye, but izzee a Catholic Jew or a Protestant Jew?)- are they English Islamists or Scottish Islamists.

The incident at the hospital seems to be a false alarm, but having heard a witness on the radio about it last this morning, the boy in black must have been a serious hied-the-ba'.

They were also searching houses in a street in Houston this morning. As you were, my Amurrican friends- that's Houston, Renfrewshire, not Houston, Texas.

No, but seriously, I did have that complacent Scottish thought on Friday after the Mercs were found- "thank goodness these things never happen in Scotland".

My bad.

fnarf999 Jul 1st, 2007 01:43 PM

Is the Scottish Houston pronounced "hyewst'n" as in Texas, or "howst'n" as in New York City? Or some other way?

They've arrested at least one man in Liverpool as well, in front of Lime Street Station, and raided two houses, one in Allerton and the other in Toxteth.

PatrickLondon Jul 1st, 2007 01:55 PM

Ah, back to the important issues, eh, fnarf?

I think Hew-ston generally in Scotland, but Sheila will know for sure. I know what they said on the TV news, but they might be wrong.

JJBhoy Jul 1st, 2007 03:41 PM

It's hoostun.

Jim

Pago Jul 1st, 2007 07:31 PM

The muslims are out to kill us...and they will. They have Franch and the UK is next..


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