Heathrow Airport bombing was an incident which happened on 20 April 1984, a bomb exploded in the baggage area of Terminal 2 at

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

. The bomb exploded at 7:55 pm, as 60 people were inside the baggage area. Commander William Hucklesby, at the time head of

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

's anti-terror branch, reported that the detonated device was constructed using of commercial or military grade explosives. A hospital spokesperson stated that all but five victims were released shortly after being treated for minor scrapes, cuts and bruises. John MacIntyre, a British customs official stationed in Terminal 2 when the detonation occurred said "There was a bloody big flash, a bang and lots of smoke. I saw a British Airways bloke with blood all over the back of his shirt. There was an Iberian Airways lost-baggage representative as well. He didn't seem to have any blood on him but he was soaking wet. I gathered the central heating unit had blown up or the pipes had burst." The blast injured 23, one seriously. The Angry Brigade, an anarchist group, claimed responsibility for the bombing. British officials dismissed the claim, and instead pointed their fingers at " Libyan-related Arab groups". coming just three days after the murder of Yvonne Fletcher and wounding of 10 other demonstrators in the street by machine gun fire outside the Libyan Embassy in London. Libyan Arab Airlines used Terminal 2 for its flights into London Heathrow, which raised suspicion as to whether the two events were related. Scotland Yard investigators said that no planes had arrived from

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, with the most recent being around noon, eight hours prior to the detonation. The area of the terminal where the detonation was pinpointed to serve as a storage facility for unclaimed baggage and bags that were to be rerouted to the correct destination. Explosive-detecting K9 units were dispatched to other parts of the airport, but no other explosives were found.

References

Terrorist attacks on airports Improvised explosive device bombings in London Terrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 1984 Terrorist incidents in London in the 1980s History of Heathrow Airport 1984 crimes in the United Kingdom Heathrow Airport bombing Terrorist incidents by unknown perpetrators April 1984 events in the United Kingdom Building bombings in London Attacks on buildings and structures in 1984 Attacks on buildings and structures in London {{UK-hist-stub