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CNN Live Sunday
Emergency Officials in London Stage Mock Chemical Weapons Attack
Aired September 07, 2003 - 10:13 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Now two years after 9/11, the threat of new terror attacks still remains. So emergency officials in the British capital are testing the city's ability to deal with a terrorist strike. Right now they're staging a mock chemical weapons attack on a subway train beneath London's financial district.
With more on today's drill, CNN's Diana Muriel in London. And Diana, I know you've been out there throughout the day, you've watched it unfold. How's it going?
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sean, it's coming into its final stages. The simulated attack started about three and a half hours ago. We understand that there are still some dummy casualties, not actual people, but dummies which are being used to represent casualties still below in the tube tunnel.
They've been down there for three and a half hours and they're going to be stretched out as casualties. They're not sure that they're even meant to be dead casualties. But most of the rest of the passengers on the train represented by 60 police cadets have got out of the train along the tunnel, walked along the tunnel by members of the London Fire Brigade, who are working in protective clothing with gas masks and other protective clothing on to get them out of the tunnel, which is about 100 feet below the surface of Bank Tube (ph) Station here in the heart of London's financial district.
They have then gone through a shower tent, a mass decontamination tent to try and wash off some of the chemical. It's supposed to be a simulated sarin attack on this underground train. After they've gone through that, they've then been taken on to Central London Hospital's University College Hospital in central London. But other patients have been presenting at the hospital, arriving at the hospital, coming from this simulated incident, and they've needed to go through their own decontamination at the various hospitals and then received treatment.
We've had police here also wearing decontamination suits. These are new suits which they've just been issued with, these protective blue clothing with the gas masks and the hoods are up. They've been using meters to read the chemical contaminants in the air around the incident site to check to see whether or not any of the chemical has escaped out of the tube area and into the public domain. The public are being kept back from the scene, but it's the first time that such an exercise has taken place in central London since before September 11, 2001 -- Sean. CALLEBS: OK. Diana Muriel in the heart of London's financial district. Thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Attack>
Aired September 7, 2003 - 10:13 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Now two years after 9/11, the threat of new terror attacks still remains. So emergency officials in the British capital are testing the city's ability to deal with a terrorist strike. Right now they're staging a mock chemical weapons attack on a subway train beneath London's financial district.
With more on today's drill, CNN's Diana Muriel in London. And Diana, I know you've been out there throughout the day, you've watched it unfold. How's it going?
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sean, it's coming into its final stages. The simulated attack started about three and a half hours ago. We understand that there are still some dummy casualties, not actual people, but dummies which are being used to represent casualties still below in the tube tunnel.
They've been down there for three and a half hours and they're going to be stretched out as casualties. They're not sure that they're even meant to be dead casualties. But most of the rest of the passengers on the train represented by 60 police cadets have got out of the train along the tunnel, walked along the tunnel by members of the London Fire Brigade, who are working in protective clothing with gas masks and other protective clothing on to get them out of the tunnel, which is about 100 feet below the surface of Bank Tube (ph) Station here in the heart of London's financial district.
They have then gone through a shower tent, a mass decontamination tent to try and wash off some of the chemical. It's supposed to be a simulated sarin attack on this underground train. After they've gone through that, they've then been taken on to Central London Hospital's University College Hospital in central London. But other patients have been presenting at the hospital, arriving at the hospital, coming from this simulated incident, and they've needed to go through their own decontamination at the various hospitals and then received treatment.
We've had police here also wearing decontamination suits. These are new suits which they've just been issued with, these protective blue clothing with the gas masks and the hoods are up. They've been using meters to read the chemical contaminants in the air around the incident site to check to see whether or not any of the chemical has escaped out of the tube area and into the public domain. The public are being kept back from the scene, but it's the first time that such an exercise has taken place in central London since before September 11, 2001 -- Sean. CALLEBS: OK. Diana Muriel in the heart of London's financial district. Thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Attack>
