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The police in Northern Ireland and have said that a bomb found in van on main Belfast to Dublin road could have resulted in huge devastation and loss of life.
Many politicians believe that the hostile Republicans who had prepared a 500lb (227kg) van bomb, risked causing an Omagh-style massacre, in which 29 people were killed and 220 were injured in August 1998.
A blue Ford transit van, stolen from Maynooth outside Dublin in January and carrying false Donegal registration plates, was found near Newry and contained a wheelie bin packed with 500lbs of homemade explosives.
The presence of a police checkpoint may have possibly led the bombers to abandon the vehicle and hundreds of motorists are believed to have driven it, unaware of the awaiting danger.
“500lbs of explosives were planted to kill and we could have had another example of mass murder on our hands today,” The Guardian quoted Policing Board member and DUP representative Jonathan Bell, as saying.
Referring to a bomb attack that killed Constable Ronan Kerr in Omagh last Saturday, Bell said: ” Just as last week we had many children and families running past the explosive device that robbed our society of the life of a talented young officer, so today we could have had serious fatalities.”
The van was found on Thursday night and the bombs found in it were dismantled after a lengthy overnight security operation.
Chief Superintendent Alasdair Robinson and commander for the area where the attack was uncovered said poor warnings from the gang responsible had led to the discovery of the van only after a civilian had spotted the van.
Robinson said that said that the exact target of the bomb was unclear adding that the bomb may have been destined for a landmark building or a town center, and could have caused “huge devastation and loss of life.”
THAINDIAN
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