Explosive Mail in Britain

Just when we thought the only bad thing to come in the mail was "junk mail", we were wrong. Monday started off a bad week in England when a letter bomb exploded in central London. Then Tuesday morning another letter bomb exploded at a company in Workingham, which is southern England, injuring two men. Apparently the letter on Tuesday was sent to Vantis Pic, which handles business outsourcing and tax compliances. The event took place right around 9:00 am and the Thames Valley Police were called in immediately following the blast. After investigating, they concluded that the package was supposedly not addressed to Vantis, but information is still coming in on the incident.

The two men that were victim of the blast are in there 30's and only suffered injuries to their hands and upper bodies. According to the Ambulance spokesman, Graham Groves, stated "Their injuries were not considered serious and they did not need treatment in hospital." Immediately following the explosion, the building was completely evacuated and closed off.

The Police commented about the similar explosion that took place on Monday, but stated it was too soon to make a connection between the two incidents. The explosion that took place on Monday was at the London headquarters of a company named Capita. A woman that works for the business outsourcing company was only slightly injured in the blast, causing burns on her hands. The package that was the center of attention on Monday was said to have arrived in a padded envelope, and was addressed to a senior executive at Capita. Police have speculated that the letter was sent from a disgruntled customer of the firm. However, Sky news is speculating that both letters, if connected, could be from a "disgruntled motorist" since Vantis works with speed cameras and Capita works with license fees.

Normally letter bombs and other explosive devices of this kind are often used by animal rights activists or people that are disgruntled employees or clients, as well as so-called "loners". However in this day and age, the police are not offering a definite answer on either incident. In an age of suicide bombers, anthrax, and constant religious war, it will be harder for them to pinpoint a definite target as well as a place of origination.

If you recall, back in July of 2005, London encountered a deadly string of explosions that took a total of 56 lives. Then just last year British officials were working long and hard with the US in order to foil a plan of getting various explosives onboard airlines to the United States. Immediately following the upheaval of this plan, British officials ended up seizing approximately 8,000 data carriers and even a few kilograms of explosives.

Even though there may or may not be a connection to all of the blasts or attempted blasts, it is still very clear that we are living in an age where it's scary to walk down the street or even open your own mail.

*Resources*

-Xinhua online. URL: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-02/06/content_5705676.htm . 2007 Feb 06.

-Reuters online. URL: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2007-02-06T115129Z_01_L06681205_RTRUKOC_0_US-BRITAIN-LETTERBOMB.xml&WTmodLoc=IntNewsHome_C2_worldNews-4 . 2007 Feb 06.

-The Evening Standard online. URL: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23384395-details/Did+disgruntled+customer+send+'letter+bomb'+to+C-charge+HQ/article.do . 2007 Feb 05.