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The 1992 Staples Corner bombing occurred on 11 April 1992 when the
Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...
detonated a large
van bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roughly divided ...
near the
Staples Corner Staples Corner is a major road junction in London, United Kingdom. It is about north-west from Charing Cross and directly to the west of the Brent Cross crossover. It has two linked roundabouts and flyovers, which connect the A406 North Circ ...
junction in North West London, England.


Description

The attack happened at 1:10am, a few hours after the major bombing of the Baltic Exchange seven miles away which killed three people. The bomb was home-made like the Baltic Exchange one, and was placed in a white
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
van. The IRA gave telephone warnings 50 minutes prior from a phone operator in
Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...
,
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. Police located the van and evacuated the area. Although no injuries were caused, the blast was powerful and caused significant damage to roads, leaving a crater on the A5 Edgware Road flyover beneath the North Circular Road. It was strong enough to be felt several miles away. The bomb damaged a three-storey B&Q DIY superstore and a steel-framed warehouse, and severely damaged warehouse property constructed of light
cladding Cladding is an outer layer of material covering another. It may refer to the following: *Cladding (boiler), the layer of insulation and outer wrapping around a boiler shell *Cladding (construction), materials applied to the exterior of buildings ...
. It was estimated the explosive force was around 100 kg. An eyewitness said the B&Q store was "completely destroyed" and the roof collapsed.


Aftermath

The B&Q superstore had to be demolished and the junction was closed for several months, causing severe disruption. It is one of London's busiest intersections as it forms the lead of the
M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which lat ...
. On the morning of 8 October 1993, the IRA targeted Staples Corner once again with a small explosion. Around the same time another bomb detonated 2 miles away on West End Lane in
West Hampstead West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. Mainly defined by the railway stations of the same name, it is situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to ...
. No injuries were caused. In 1994 two IRA members, Gerard Mackin and Derek Doherty, were found guilty of planting 12 bombs throughout London over seven days in October 1993.


In popular culture

Staples Corner is featured in
Patrick Keiller Patrick Keiller (born 1950) is a British film-maker, writer and lecturer. Biography Keiller was born in 1950, in Blackpool and studied at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. In 1979 he joined the Royal College of Art ...
's 1994 film ''London''. The scene showcases the wreckage of the bombing days after the explosion in 1992.


See also

*
Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions (1992–1999) This is a chronology of activities by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), from 1992 to 1999. 1992 January–February *1 January 1992: **a gun battle occurred between British troops and an IRA unit at the Royal Ulster Constabulary ...
*
Baltic Exchange bombing The Baltic Exchange bombing was an attack by the Provisional IRA on the City of London, Britain's financial centre, on 10 April 1992, the day after the General Election which re-elected John Major from the Conservative Party as Prime Minister. ...


References

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