Fake bomb fiasco may prove costly for Manchester
Print Edition
A FAKE bomb inside Old Trafford that forced the abandonment of Manchester United’s last Premier League game of the season triggered angry calls for action as the club faced a multi-million pound bill for the “fiasco.”
As inquiries started into the incident which led to bomb disposal experts blowing up a mobile phone attached to a gas pipe, United vowed to reimburse the tickets of 75,000 fans who were evacuated on Sunday ahead of the game against Bournemouth.
It will also give them free entry to today’s rearranged match against the south-coast side. That gesture alone could cost United more than 3 million pounds (US$4.3 million).
“It is outrageous this situation arose,” Tony Lloyd, Manchester’s mayor and police and crime commissioner, said.
“A full inquiry is required to urgently find out how this happened, why it happened and who will be held accountable.
“This fiasco caused massive inconvenience to supporters who had come from far and wide to watch the match, wasted the time of huge numbers of police officers and the army’s bomb squad, and unnecessarily put people in danger, as evacuating tens of thousands of people from a football stadium is not without risk.”
Officials said a company which conducted a security exercise at Old Trafford had left the fake bomb — a mobile phone attached to a gas pipe — in a stadium toilet.
The device was found just before Sunday’s kick-off and the evacuation ordered.
Army experts staged a “controlled explosion” before police announced that the suspect device was “incredibly lifelike” but “wasn’t viable.”
Greater Manchester police assistant chief constable John O’Hare said: “On appearance this device was as real as could be, and the decision to evacuate the stadium was the right thing to do, until we could be sure that people were not at risk.”
United’s vice-chairman Ed Woodward said an investigation would be launched to guide “future actions and decisions.”
British media named the company that left the device in the stadium as Security Search Management and Solutions.
They said the firm had staged a training exercise for sniffer dogs at Old Trafford but left the fake bomb behind.
Christopher Reid, owner of Security Search Management, told the Daily Mail his company was “getting the blame” for the fake bomb but refused to comment until after he had spoken with Manchester United.
The incident left a number of spectators disappointed. About 3,500 Bournemouth fans made the 800km round trip to Manchester to see their club’s first league game at Old Trafford.
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe told the local Daily Echo newspaper: “It was a real anti-climax to a day everyone had been looking forward to. But all those disappointments and emotions really go out of the window when you think about the supporters and everything they have put into the day — financial costs, time, effort.”
Britain raised the threat level from dissident Northern Ireland militants to “substantial,” meaning an attack on the British mainland is considered a strong possibility. There have also been concerns that the Belgian-based cell of Islamic State that carried out attacks in Paris six months ago and in Brussels in March might have been involved in plots in Britain.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
