Counter-terrorism police are investigating whether or not Russian spies planted an incendiary gadget on a airplane to Britain that later caught hearth at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham, the Guardian can reveal.
No one was reported injured within the hearth on 22 July at a warehouse within the suburb of Minworth that handles parcels for supply, and the blaze was handled by the native hearth brigade and workers.
The parcel is believed to have arrived on the DHL warehouse by air, although it’s not identified if it was a cargo or passenger plane, nor the place it was destined for. There might have been severe penalties if it had ignited throughout the flight.
An analogous incident occurred in Germany, additionally in late July, when a suspect bundle sure for a flight caught hearth at one other DHL facility in Leipzig. German authorities warned this week that had it gone off in mid-air it might have downed the airplane.
On Monday, Thomas Haldenwang, the pinnacle of Germany’s home intelligence service, advised members of the nation’s parliament that had the Leipzig bundle began burning throughout a flight “it will have resulted in a crash”.
Nonetheless, the incident in Birmingham was solely disclosed after joint inquiries by the Guardian and German broadcasters WDR and NDR, prompting questions as to why the authorities didn’t reveal it earlier.
A Metropolitan police counter-terrorism spokesperson mentioned: “We will affirm that officers from counter-terrorism policing are investigating an incident at a business premises in Midpoint Means, Minworth.
“On Monday 22 July, a bundle on the location caught alight. It was handled by workers and the native hearth brigade on the time and there have been no studies of any accidents or vital injury precipitated.”
British investigators suspect that the incendiary gadget is a part of a wider marketing campaign that Russian spies have been finishing up throughout Europe this 12 months, which has been condemned as reckless by spy chiefs within the UK and elsewhere.
Ken McCallum, the pinnacle of MI5, warned final week that Russia’s GRU navy intelligence gave the impression to be on “a sustained mission to generate mayhem on British and European streets: we’ve seen arson, sabotage and extra”.
A warehouse in east London belonging to an organization linked to Ukraine caught hearth in a suspected arson assault in March. Seven males have been charged with involvement within the incident, which has been linked to a Russian plot.
A procuring centre in Warsaw was destroyed by a hearth in Might. Shortly after, Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, mentioned was “fairly doubtless” that the blaze was attributable to operatives from Russia’s intelligence providers.
Nonetheless, probably the most severe plot uncovered was an try and assassinate Armin Papperger, the CEO of the German arms maker Rheinmetall. In July, it was reported that US intelligence providers had foiled Russian plans to homicide him.
The German newspaper Tagesspiegel reported that the incendiary gadget had began burning in Leipzig because it was about to be loaded on a cargo airplane. The flight had been delayed. If the airplane taken off on time, it will have ignited mid-air.
Given the similarity to the Leipzig hearth, additionally linked to Russian sabotage, Met counter-terrorism police are main the Birmingham investigation with help from specialist officers from the West Midlands and evaluating notes with investigators round Europe.
Final month, DHL mentioned the bundle that began burning in Germany was initially posted from Lithuania. The corporate mentioned it had tightened “safety protocols and procedures” in step with recommendation from European authorities.
No arrests have been made in relation to the Birmingham hearth, and British police inquiries are persevering with. “Officers are liaising with different European regulation enforcement companions to determine whether or not this will likely or might not be linked to every other similar-type incidents throughout Europe,” the police spokesperson mentioned.
Approached for remark, DHL mentioned it was taking motion “to safe its community, workers and belongings in addition to buyer shipments” in response to what it described as “ongoing investigations by authorities from a number of international locations”.
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