15 December 2003

Tube attack exercise shows flaws | UK

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Tube attack exercise shows flaws:

More work needs to be done on plans for dealing with a terror attack on London after a simulation on the Tube threw up glaring deficiencies, says a report.

Hundreds of emergency personnel were involved in the pretend chemical attack on Bank station in September.

The report into the exercise found that while much had been done to improve responses, more action was needed.

It found new rescue plans for the Underground were needed and rescuers could not talk through their gas masks.

Rescuers wore full protective clothing on the premise that the attack could be similar to that on the Tokyo underground in 1995 when deadly sarin gas was released.

It left 12 people dead and thousands seriously ill, including firefighters who tried to rescue victims.

In the London exercise, decontamination units were set up at ground level and the immediate area around the strike - the so-called "Hot Zone" - was sealed off.

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