Breaking News Two Explosions At Brussels Airport.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3503928/Two-explosions-heard-Brussels-Airport.html

Could these have been intended to be set off aboard a US bound aircraft?

[retrocop]

I am reading it was a suicide bomber !!

[Gromit]

Retrocop
There were at least two bombs, so not a solo effort. The bomb on the Metro was an hour after the airport bomb(s). So more than one individual involved.

[anotheoldgit]

This from a Daily Express report on increased security at Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

/// A spokesman for the airport said: “We take the safety and security of our passengers and colleagues very seriously. In the light of events in Brussels airport, we are working with the police at Heathrow who are providing a high visibility presence. ///

Apparently prior to the Brussels explosions they were not taking the safety and security of their passengers and colleagues very seriously,else these new measures would have already been in place.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/654553/Heathrow-Gatwick-UK-airports-increasing-security-Brussels-terror-attacks

[retrocop]

I am just mentioning the Airport explosions.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/two-loud-explosions-heard-brussels-airport-071914931.html

[jourdain2]

Earlier on R4 someone was reporting that shots and Arabic shouting were heard immediately preceding the airport explosions. So, suicide bombers seem a likely explanation.

[mikey4444]

I haven't flown anywhere since 2010, and its unlikely that I will ever again.

But just how is any airport going to stop you from walking in to the place, with a bomb in your luggage ?

Or from going into a Metro or railway station ?

[naomi24]

Sorry, I read another report that stated the explosions were in Departures, so assumed the perpetrators had somehow managed to evade security checks. That doesn't appear to be so.

[naomi24]

//But just how is any airport going to stop you from walking in to the place, with a bomb in your luggage ? //

The only way to do that is to move security to the front doors so that absolutely everyone entering the airport is checked. A massive operation.

[mikey4444]

naomi...........if the explosions were in the Departures part of the Airport or any other part that the public have free access to, then how can we prevent that ? They could set the bombs off in the car park or the bus before they get there.

[naomi24]

Mikey, you weren't talking about car parks and buses. You were talking about airports.

[mikey4444]

Then they might as well shut all airports down, because that measure would make them unworkable.

Take the Tube in London....I'm not sure how many people use the Tube every day, but I expect it is many 100.000's, and from hundreds of different stations.

The best way to prevent as many incidents like this is from good intelligence beforehand.

[mikey4444]

The point I am making is if these terrorists want to cause outrages, they can find millions of different ways to do it. Next time maybe it will be a shopping centre.

[Gromit]

In the UK, you can enter the terminal building and join a queue to check in. Your luggage is tagged and then goes away to be x-rayed, scanned, smelled etc.
As you go to the departures lounge, your hand luggage is then checked. All that makes sure the aircraft is secure. Unfortunately, the check in area with thousands of people with thousands of unchecked luggage, leaves teavellers extremely vunerable.
At the airport I use in Turkey, all my luggage, clothes, me are checked at the entrance to the terminal. Everyone and all luggage has been checked before they enter the building. That does not happen here. It should.

[237SJ]

In India, the army are on the door into departures checking boarding passes and IDs. Nobody gets into the airport unless they are flying/working. I`m not sure how effective that would be if someone was determined to get in and anyway, the airports over here are so busy that there would be masses of people bottlenecking to get into the airport and the bombers would just target them. It`s a difficult one.

[naomi24]

Mikey, //The best way to prevent as many incidents like this is from good intelligence beforehand. //

I think the authorities are aware of that.

[retrocop]

//The best way to prevent as many incidents like this is from good intelligence beforehand.//

Well you can rule out the 'moderate' muslim community for any help in that regard!!
And of course it would upset the sensitivities of the liberal left if a few known pips were squeezed until they squeak!!

[naomi24]

237SJ, I've just flown back from Prague. Apart from passport control, there are no security checks whatsoever there until passengers reach individual departure GATES.

[237SJ]

Naomi - some airports do have that system - it`s the same in Singapore. Others such as Dubai, x ray the bags twice - once on entering the airport and again after Immigration.

[naomi24]

Indeed. Cairo has four security checks at various points, the final one at the gate, but I was astonished that in the current climate security checks were still being left until the very last minute at Prague.

[Khandro]

It is not possible to completely prevent these attacks, whatever precautions you take these nutters will find some alternative. It can only be stopped at its source, which is a warped view of Islam, and that can only be altered by condemnation and their disassociation from the Muslim community and by their Imams in particular.

Do we hear such condemnations? - We do not.