Residents unware of Isle of Dogs bomb scare

A SUSPICIOUS package which was left in a branch of Pret A Manger in Harbour Exchange on the Isle of Dogs was investigated yesterday afternoon.

The package was soon found to be innocent – but not before nearby office workers had either been evacuated or locked in their offices. Those trying to travel around the Island found that their way was barred by closed roads, and the footbridge from South Quay to Canary Wharf was closed too.

And quite right too. Yesterday’s suspicious package was only yards from the site of the South Quay bomb which killed two people back in 1996. You never know when it’s going to be for real.

However, in the rush to evacuate or lock in the office workers, hundreds of nearby resident were left entirely unaware that there was a bomb scare. This went largely unreported by the national press, which concentrated on detailing the disruption to the working day for those in offices nearby.

Our thanks should go to the emergency services who dealt with the incident – not knowing if it was real, without the benefit of hindsight. And the rest of us must continue to be vigilant. As the man said, “Be careful out there!”

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