Explosion Fires Nails Into London Market; 48 Injured

A bomb fired nails through a crowded street market in south London on Saturday, injuring at least 48 people, police said.

No one was killed, but Scotland Yard said four people had been seriously injured in the explosion near Brixton Road and Electric Avenue.

“Clearly the person who set this off is disturbed and had no regard for human life,” said Cmdr. Hugh Orde, the Metropolitan Police officer leading the investigation.

There was no report of anyone claiming responsibility. Press Assn., the British news agency, said police sources suggested the explosion was related to criminal activity and not to politically motivated terrorism.

George Jones, 42, who has a stall at the street market, said he moved the device before it exploded.

A utility bag “was handed to me by somebody who said someone had forgotten their shopping. I unzipped it and opened it wide, and I could see what it was,” said Jones, who described the device as being wrapped with tape and nails. “I picked it up and moved it 10 to 15 yards and put it by a brick wall to stop people getting hurt. . . . Then it went off. I was blown across the road and a couple of nails lodged in my leg, and I was hit by concrete and glass.”

Jones said he had telephoned police before the explosion.

Orde said police had reports of at least 48 people being injured, though apparently not all sought hospital treatment.

“It was extremely dangerous. It was a smaller explosion than we have seen in London, but nonetheless it was extremely serious and members of the public were hurt,” he said.

Seventeen people were admitted with “shrapnel-type” injuries at King’s College Hospital, said spokesman Nick Samuels. Twelve people were taken to St. George’s Hospital, and eight to St. Thomas’s Hospital.

One patient at St. Thomas’s, a 23-month-old boy, was being treated for a nail embedded in his skull, although “no apparent brain injury was evident,” the hospital said.

Ijeona Nwokolo, 17, was admitted to St. Thomas’s with a nail in her stomach and another in her leg.

“My ears were hurting. I felt my stomach, it was hurting, my leg was hurting and there was a nail coming from my knee as well,” she said.

Neall Whatley, 36, said he saw a child with a nail in her cheek and a man with serious head, chest and leg injuries.

Metin Saglam, 34, who runs a fast-food shop on Brixton Road near the site of the explosion, said: “I heard two bangs, and there were people running around screaming, ‘Bomb! Bomb! Bomb!’ ”

Brixton, one of London’s most ethnically diverse areas, was torn by rioting in 1985, but it was the scene of a giant street party in 1996 when South African President Nelson Mandela visited.