Police have confirmed that a second car bomb has been defused just hours after a similar explosive device was discovered and made safe in Central London, sparking an international manhunt to find the people responsible.
An unexploded bomb packed with petrol, gas cylinders and nails was discovered by chance in the early hours of Friday morning in a metallic green Mercedes. It was parked outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub, situated just yards away from the landmark Piccadilly Circus in The Haymarket district of London.
Then later on Friday, police started clearing people from Hyde Park following reports of another suspicious vehicle and the adjacent Park Lane was closed. Police have now confirmed that the vehicle contained an identical device to the one found outside Tiger Tiger and that it has now also been defused.
Forensic experts are now conducting inch-by-inch searches on the two vehicles for any evidence that might shed light on who is behind the bombs. Detectives, meanwhile, are pouring over hours of CCTV footage for anything that might reveal the identity of the bombers.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke said: "There was a considerable amount of fuel and gas canisters, as in the first vehicle. There was also a substantial quantity of nails.
"This like the first device, was potentially viable and was made safe by explosives officers. The vehicles are clearly linked."
Mr Clarke then appealed to the public to contact the Confidential Anti Terrorist Hotline if saw the blue Mercedes parked in Cockspur Street early on Friday morning or any other information or have any other information. The number to cal is 0800 789 321.
The latest incident comes close to the two year anniversary of the July 7 bombings on London's transport network. That series of attacks claimed 52 innocent lives.
Professor Anthony Glees, an intelligence expert at Brunel University, was quoted by AFP as saying that the apparent simultaneous bombing attempt bore the hallmarks of an Al-Qaeda plot.
"There even more evidence now that this is an al-Qaeda plot. It's an al-Qaeda memo to Gordon Brown," he said. Gordon Brown became Prime Minister after Tony Blair tendered his resignation on Wednesday.
"It's an al-Qaeda memo to the British public, that they are determined to carry on...their attack on ordinary British people," he said.
Prime Minister Brown said yesterday that Britain faced a "serious and continued terrorist threat". "It does recall the need for us to be vigilant at all times," he said.
Mr Clarke added: "Even at this stage it is obvious that if this device had detonated, there could have been significant injury or loss of life."
