A bus explosion filmed on location in London for kung-fu screen legend Jackie Chan's latest movie on the morning of Sunday, Feb. 7 incited major panic in the British capital, fueling rumors of a terrorist attack.
According to various news sources, the contained blast was part of a filmed scene in an upcoming 2016 action thriller, titled The Foreigner, which will star Chan and former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan.
The force of the explosion took place on Lambeth Bridge in Central London, ripping off the top of the bus, which caught on fire. Detritus from the incident fell into and floated on the river Thames.
Despite the fact that the site was marked with signs meant to warn residents of the stunt (as well as preemptive warnings from London-based news sources), the notices failed to inform residents who witnessed the incident from afar.
Lambeth Bridge shut for filming tomorrow morning. Beware of controlled explosions! pic.twitter.com/TKz8xuatdO
— London SE1 (@se1) February 6, 2016
Terrified onlookers took to Twitter to post about the blast, many of whom fearing an assault on the metropolis. Others expressed sheer confusion and bewilderment.
@se1 fairly worrying robe woken up to an explosion and my first blurry eyed vision is this on Lambeth bridge!! pic.twitter.com/o91Up9vbgO
— Anders (@IndiAndersJones) February 7, 2016
Those aware of the circumstances surrounding the blast used social media to quell the panic, including members of the British Parliament. Among them was Nigel Huddleston, a Conservative MP, who recorded video footage of the presumed fracas, posting it on social media and notifying other users that it was "just for a movie."
Anyone worried about the exploding bus on Lambeth Bridge just now? It was just for a movie. pic.twitter.com/1ypWZZ6jPp
— Nigel Huddleston MP (@HuddlestonNigel) February 7, 2016
Huddleston also admitted that the incident could have fooled anyone, noting that "scale and realism of the explosion would have worried a lot of people," as reported by the Guardian.
Author Sophia Kinsella expressed her ire on Twitter regarding the municipality's failure to sufficiently warn residents in the wake of the incident, urging "film types" to warn nearby bystanders — especially children — to prevent them from getting "freaked."
Hey film types next time you blow up a bus on Lambeth Bridge maybe tell us first so children in park aren't freaked? pic.twitter.com/8Ui6YoE9N0
— Sophie Kinsella (@KinsellaSophie) February 7, 2016
The panic is understandable, considering the last terrorist attack the city incurred — most commonly known as the July 7 bombings — more than a decade ago in 2005. Orchestrated by allegedly unaffiliated fundamentalists, the string of terrorist suicide bombings involved the detonation of homemade explosives in several public transit sites, which included one on six-car London Underground trains near Kings Cross-Saint Pancras, two on the respective Stock Circle and Stock Picadilly lines and one on a double decker bus in Tavistock Square. The attacks left 56 dead, including the four bombers who perpetrated the jihad-inspired strikes, and 700 wounded.
See the (controlled) bus explosion — and the ensuing confusion — in the video clip below, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.
Source: AP
