‘Laughing’ attacker bombs migrant base
Man drove 100 miles, flung fuel canister… then ‘took own life’
A ‘LAUGHING’ man reportedly drove more than a hundred miles before hurling up to three petrol bombs at a migrant processing centre in Dover yesterday.
He then apparently killed himself at a nearby petrol station.
Witnesses saw the man attack a Border Force immigration site, where nearly 1,000 migrants were brought for processing less than 24 hours earlier.
Pictures captured the moment the white man, who has not been named, reached out of his car window and tossed a petrol canister, which appeared to have a firework strapped to it. Onlookers heard several explosions as ‘all hell broke loose’ and a fire started.
They claimed that the suspect was ‘laughing’ as he threw the devices at the Western Jet Foil immigration centre. Two people inside the site reported minor injuries, police said.
After the attack yesterday morning, the man killed himself at a nearby BP petrol garage, according to a Reuters photographer who saw the incident. A motive remains unclear.
The man was not based locally and was believed to have driven more than 100 miles to Dover, sources indicated last night.
It is understood that police have so far failed to establish a link between the attacker and any farRight groups. Early investigations suggest that the petrol bomber had not published any online posts which suggested he had a link with extremism.
And initial background searches by detectives indicate he was operating alone, sources said.
The incident comes amid rising concerns about the growing numbers of people making the dangerous Channel crossing and the conditions in which they are being housed in Britain.
Nearly 1,000 new arrivals were brought to the centre for processing on Saturday, pushing the total number who have reached the UK this year to almost 40,000.
Natalie Elphicke, the Tory MP for Dover, said the ‘truly shocking’ attack should bring new urgency to tackling the Channel crisis.
She said those at the migrant centre are being ‘looked after’ following the ‘dreadful’ attack. ‘I think it is fair to say that tensions have been running high over the last period,’ she told LBC radio.
Witness Gary Smith, 31, claimed the suspect, who ‘looked like he was in his 50s’, was chuckling as he threw the bombs. He said: ‘I was walking over a nearby bridge and I could see him throwing the bombs. He was just laughing while he was doing it. It was crazy.’
Police arrived on the scene within minutes along with an Army bomb disposal team which examined the explosive devices.
A BP petrol station was cordoned off and officers were seen standing by a white Seat SUV, which was parked by the car wash and covered with blue tarpaulin.
Last night Kent Police confirmed the suspect had died at ‘a nearby petrol station’. In a statement it said ‘two to three incendiary devices had been thrown outside and into the premises’, with a further device found in the man’s car.
It added: ‘Two people have reported minor injuries from inside the property.
Concerns have been raised about the asylum processing site nearby in Manston. Migrants are meant to stay at the short-term holding facility for a maximum of 24 hours while they undergo checks.
But some of the 2,600 migrants at the site – which is meant to hold a maximum of 1,600 – have been held there for up to four weeks, and the centre is dealing with outbreaks of diphtheria and scabies.
Staff at the site are also reporting outbreaks of violence amid tensions over the conditions.
However, the Home Secretary was said to have blocked the transfer of migrants from the Manston centre amid the soaring cost of housing them in hotels.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The number of people arriving in the UK via small boats has reached record levels, which has put our asylum system under incredible pressure.’
‘All hell broke loose’ ‘Motive remains unclear’