This happened on 2005-07-11 [shortly after the London attacks] in Port of Spain, the main city of Trinidad and Tobago.
THE Capital city was convulsed after what military investigators confirmed was a bomb exploded in a garbage bin yesterday in front of Maraj Jewellers at the corner of Frederick and Queen Streets, Port of Spain. The incident is not being viewed as a terrorist act but the city was under lockdown following the event and all of last night. But business is expected to resume as usual today.
Fifteen persons were injured when, just after 2 p.m., the device which had been placed in a wrought iron bin outside of the store tore through the iron container sending shrapnel flying everywhere.
Unsuspecting passersby as well as a few vendors selling alongside the wall of the jewelry store were injured , their flesh exposed as bit of steel tore through them.
The most serious injury was suffered by passerby Yvonne McIvor whose leg had to be amputated. One other person is said to be critical.
The window of the Maraj store bore a small hole and the revolving door was warped from the force of the blast.
Across the street at Payless Shoe Store a piece of iron from the bin blasted a hole through the store’s large glass injuring a customer standing inside.
Military explosives experts led by Major Roger Best initially took the lead in investigating the scene when the intent of the act was not yet certain. The investigation was eventually handed over to the police after it was deemed to be a criminal act. The police were assisted by US bomb experts who are currently in Trinidad training the Customs K-9 Unit in bomb and explosives detection.
The dogs were employed to sniff the area and nearby stores to ensure that no other explosives were present.
“Terrorism is not what we are entertaining at this time in terms of this event,” military sources told the Daily Express. “There was no motive and no specific target, we cannot say that the perpetrators had a specific intent. We believe it was just a random act.”
The Daily Express was told that the device used in yesterday’s explosion was homemade, did not carry a timer and was in a plastic container.
“We could not detect any evidence of a timer. The fact that it went off near where watches and cell phones were being sold could be a throw off, but we are pretty certain one was not present,” the source said.
“It is the kind of bomb that could be made from home ingredients like ammonium nitrate, which can be found in fertilisers,” military sources said.
They also said that the person or persons responsible for yesterday’s tragedy either knew exactly what they were doing, or pulled what they thought would have been a harmless prank.
“Why we say this is because the bomb itself, the device, on its own was pretty harmless, but the fact that it was placed in the wrought iron bin, made it potentially deadly,” the military officer said.
“All of the damage that was done yesterday, the people who were injured, injuries to property was all done by shrapnel from the iron bin. The device was only dangerous because it was placed in the bin. So the person who put it there, either knows exactly what the effect would be, or on the other hand, they placed it there, thinking that in its iron container, it would be completely harmless.”
Police investigators on the scene said according to reports they received, the bomb went off after a vagrant digging through the bin picked it up and dropped it back.
They also said they were looking at three suspects, one of whom is possibly among the injured.
Outside of the town, forces had to be employed at the Beetham Highway as the mass exodus from the city caused a bumper to bumper traffic jam, and a number of robberies were said to have been carried out at that location.
