September 15, 2017

expert reaction to blast on the London underground

This morning on the London Underground 22 people were injured after an “improvised explosive device” was detonated on a District Line train.

Prof. Hans Michels, Professor of Safety Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, said:

“There are a lot of similarities with the aftermath of the second largely failed explosions on the London underground in 2005. In appearance and arrangement the remnants of the device seem highly similar to those of the hydrogen peroxide based devices of 2005; see pictures of the remnants of those devices left on the trains then. The size of the device and its containment in a plastic bucket is also the same.

“The flash flame reported suggests that the ‘explosion’ was only partly successful. In particular much of the bucket still seems to be intact and there appear to be no victims with lethal impact wounds. I must speculate that either the mixture was not of the right composition or that the ignition system was inadequate or not properly placed. The fact that much of the bucket is intact supports the latter possibility.

“I would need better pictures and more information to say much more.”

Declared interests

None received.