1976 Olympia bombing
Bomb attack in West London From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1976 Olympia bombing was a bomb attack on 27 March 1976 carried out by the Provisional IRA at the Olympia exhibition centre in west London.[1][2] At 4:40pm,[3] a 2 lb (0.91 kg) bomb exploded in a litter bin at the top of an escalator inside the centre, which at the time was crowded with over 15,000 people attending the Daily Mail's Ideal Home Exhibition.[4] 85 people were injured, including 8 children,[5] and several people lost limbs.[6] One casualty, 79-year-old Rachel Hyams, died from her injuries 21 days later.[7][8] According to Scotland Yard, eleven of the victims were Irish.[4]
| 1976 Olympia bombing | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Troubles | |
| Location | West Kensington, London, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°29′47″N 0°12′35″W |
| Date | 27 March 1976 (UTC) |
Attack type | Bomb |
| Deaths | 1 |
| Injured | 85 |
| Perpetrator | Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) |
Police said they received no coded warning from the IRA, but the Sunday Mirror in Manchester said it received a call from the Provisional IRA's “Irish Brigade” claiming responsibility, as did the BBC.[9][4] The caller reportedly stated, "This is a warning to the British Government to take troops out of Northern Ireland, and more than bombs are on the way if this demand is not met".[10] An unconfirmed report suggested that a man in his twenties placed a packaged in the litter bin just prior to the explosion.[3]
A subsequent report on BBC's Nationwide stated that the bombing resulted in a change in security practices at the Olympia exhibition centre and may have involved a type of "explosive hardware" not previously used by the IRA in Britain.[6]
Due to the outrage caused, the IRA temporarily halted its bombing campaign in Britain.[citation needed] Writing in 1986, the academic Yonah Alexander suggested that the Olympia bombing contributed to Muammar Gaddafi, at least temporarily, "reconsider[ing] his support for the IRA".[11] In the subsequent period, IRA activity in Britain "dropped off significantly".[12]
See also
References
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.