Toronto Guards Its Subways After Terrorist Bomb Threat
Thousands of police officers patrolled 780 miles of Toronto transit routes today after an Armenian group threatened a bomb attack.
A police bomb squad detonated a suitcase left unattended at a transit shelter across from busy Union Station, causing an explosion that resounded throughout the downtown financial district. The suitcase later was found to contain only clothing, authorities said.
A spokesman for the Toronto Transit Commission estimated that about 35% of normal commuters avoided the transit system today because of the threats.
Asked if the threat frightened her, a woman said: “You’re right, I’m scared,” as she boarded the first train at 6 a.m. “But they’re not going to keep me off the subway.”
Police received a letter last Tuesday from a group calling itself the Armenian Secret Army for Liberation of Our Homeland. The letter said the group would bomb the transit system unless three jailed Armenians were released by last Friday morning.
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