Huge Bomb Rips London’s Financial District; 1 Killed

LONDON — A huge bomb was set off in the heart of London’s financial district Saturday, killing one man, injuring more than 30 other people and causing as much as $2 billion in damage. More than 13 hours later, two car bombs exploded in other parts of London but caused no casualties, Scotland Yard said.

All three blasts were blamed by authorities on the Irish Republican Army, which is trying to damage the English economy in an effort to end British rule in Northern Ireland.

Detective Superintendent John White called the first explosion, which occurred after police and the media received coded warnings of an impending blast, “a heinous attack on innocent people.”

The first bomb was planted in a dump truck and exploded about 10:25 a.m. near the 52-story NatWest Bank Tower, a London landmark, and the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank.

The blast, heard up to 10 miles away, sent a thick, gray pall of smoke over the financial district. Rescue workers recovered the body of a man at the scene of the blast, police said. He was not immediately identified.

The explosion shattered hundreds of windows, littering streets with glass. Blinds fluttered through shards clinging to window frames in office buildings throughout the area.

The area was sealed off by police, and it was unclear how soon the humming financial district--one of the world’s busiest--could get back to work.

At one point the tall plume of smoke obscured nearby St. Paul’s Cathedral, reminding some observers of pictures of the World War II bombing of London by German planes.

A police officer said of the blast scene, which included a ruptured water main: “It’s worse than the blitz. There’s a huge fountain and a great big crater.”

The explosion recalled a similar one set off by the IRA a year ago outside the nearby Baltic Exchange, killing three people and causing more than $1.5 billion in damage to buildings.

The Baltic Exchange was reopened only three weeks ago. Some of the windows shattered Saturday had been knocked out in the earlier explosion.

The first of Saturday’s two later bombs went off in the Finsbury Park section of north London near the Royal Park Hotel, which was evacuated shortly before the blast. The other occurred in King’s Cross in central London where area residents were also evacuated.

The British news agency Reuters said that in both cases, police were warned in advance by cab drivers who said they had picked up “Irish-speaking passengers” carrying what looked like bombs.

Loss assessor Nicholas Balcombe, chief executive of Balcombe’s Insurance, said Saturday’s financial district bomb seemed larger than last year’s, adding, “I would guesstimate we are talking about in excess of 1 billion (pounds sterling) worth of damage.”

Jeffrey Salmon, managing director of Salmon Adams Hilton, an assessor’s firm, said that the damage could lead to a hike of 30% to 40% in insurance premiums for buildings in the center of London.

Rod Clutton, director of a property company in the area, said that until police give the all-clear and let businessmen in to assess damage, it will be impossible to say how much office space will be needed to relocate businesses.

Several churches--St. Helen’s, St. Ethelburga’s and St. Andrew’s--also suffered damage. But experts weren’t immediately able to determine the extent.

Police immediately began clearing people out of the streets, but some office workers were told not to leave their buildings because a blast was imminent.

James Brazier of Engelhard, a metal dealer, was seated in his office when the bomb went off. “I heard this huge bang, then the windows caved in and I got blown off my chair onto the floor,” he said.

Ken Williams, 60, personnel manager of the Great Eastern Hotel, not far from the blast, was in his bath when everyone was evacuated. He departed in slippers, pajama trousers, T-shirt and bathrobe.

“I had no socks,” he said. “A lady who was trying to get to Standsted Airport--a complete stranger--gave me a pair of new black socks from her suitcase.”