UPDATED: 21:57 EST, 20 July 2012
UK Daily Mail:
Boy runs from crowd and attempts to wrestle flame from torch bearer shouting Arabic for 'God is Great'
Anna Skora, 23, manages to keep hold of flame to carry on
Security drag teenager away, who has since been arrested and is being held in custody
Kent police say the relay continued 'without disruption' as Ms Skora passes torch on to next bearer
A 17-year-old shouted 'Allahu Akbar' - Arabic for 'God is Great' - as he unsuccessfully tried to grab the Olympic torch during a stretch of the flame's route through Maidstone towards Redhill.
Broadcast live on the BBC, the youth lunged from the crowd to try to take the torch from the hands of its bearer Anna Skora, but was swiftly bundled away by officers.
In one video posted to YouTube he can be seen waiting behind a car and as Ms Skora gets closer he lunges towards the torch.
Ms Skora was about to hand over the torch to Graham White, a Surrey charity worker, when the teenager burst out of the crowd and tried to grab it.
He managed to get through the line of police officers escorting the torch as it headed through the town.
One of the officers at the back of the group swiftly grabbed hold of Ms Skora and the torch, guiding them to the opposite side of the road.
Four or five of the other torch guards then bundled the man to the side of the road where he was then arrested.
Ms Skora managed to keep the torch upright throughout the ordeal and she continued to smile as she completed her stretch of the Olympic flame relay.
The incident happened as the torch was being taken into Gravesend on Friday morning.
Ms Skora was able to keep hold of the torch as the youth tried to wrestle it from her grasp, and security and police officers stepped in to protect the torch bearer and bundle away the youth.
The youth, from Gravesend, is currently being held in custody and the torch continued on its way without disruption, Kent Police said.
A Kent Police spokesman said: 'At around 9.55am a man apparently attempted to take the Olympic Flame from a Torchbearer in Rochester Road.
'The man, who is from Gravesend, was arrested within seconds and is now in the custody of Kent Police.
'No one was injured in the incident and the Torch continued on its way without disruption.'
Meanwhile, two cruise liners have arrived at Royal Albert Dock to provide accommodation for Olympic workers throughout the Games.
The gigantic boats will station workers throughout the Games, as the influx of people has left little room in the capital.
The liners, named the Braemer and the Gemini, will host bus drivers and security staff and have a combined capacity of more than 2,000.
Traditionally, ships like the cruise liners docked on the shores of the Thames are used for holidaymakers, and it is sure to be an interesting place for the workers to retire to after their gruelling shifts at the Games.
More than 70,000 athletes and VIPs will travel to the capital, as well as the 500,000 tourists expected to arrive over the coming weeks.
The torch relay scare comes on a day when a military commander has vowed to ensure that troops on standby to provide Olympic security have 'the best possible accommodation' as Defence Secretary Philip Hammond visited their temporary camp in east London.
General Sir Nick Parker said he wants to make sure 'soldiers feel valued and can do their job properly' after there were reports of some personnel using showers in local leisure facilities.
An additional 2,500 soldiers are being housed temporarily at the converted 19th-century warehouse, Tobacco Dock in Wapping, east London, to deal with the G4S security shortfall.
Mr Hammond was given a tour of the facilities, including the kitchen and dining areas and operation control rooms.
After meeting the soldiers, Mr Hammond said: 'This is a perfect location for a temporary forward operating base, which is what this is.
'This is a sound, solid building and the military enablers who have been here since the beginning of the week have done a fantastic job of installing wi-fi and communications. They are now building the leisure facilities that the troops will have access to.
'They have field kitchens in here, there is a 24-hour catering operation running and the guys who are here will be comfortable. It's basic accommodation but it's the kind of accommodation they will be well used to because of their tours of duty in Afghanistan.'
A further 1,000 troops are to be housed in temporary accommodation in Hainault, Essex, and on military bases to make up for the G4S shortfall. Mr Hammond said the armed forces are 'configured' to deal with the 'unexpected' at short notice.
He said: 'If we find that we need more people to ensure the safety and security of the Games we will bring them in, we won't hesitate to bring them in if that is necessary but I hope it won't be.
'The public will be hugely reassured to see so many military uniforms around, to see the military taking such a large part in the security arrangements.
'I can guarantee that we have not compromised any of the security standards.'
General Sir Nick Parker, standing joint commander for operations for the United Kingdom in support of the police, said: 'We have got to give people the best possible accommodation that we can so that they do their job properly.
'But this is nothing like as bad as some of the conditions we would expect to live in and still do our job effectively.
The task here is to make sure we make it as good as we possibly can so our soldiers feel valued and can do their job properly.
'Nobody wants to call people in at very short notice when they have holidays planned but it is a fact of life that this is what we do, we're on standby and if we're needed we have to drop everything and do what we are told to do.'
There have been recent reports of soldiers using showers in local leisure facilities and Gen Parker said "the local authority has been 'incredibly supportive'.
He said: 'We're building a camp here at very short notice, you will see the showers are being put in today and we will provide the soldiers with the facilities they need.'
As Mr Hammond was visiting the temporary barracks, Home Secretary Theresa May was taking a tour of the Olympic Park's security centre today.
The Home Secretary said G4S, the world’s second largest private sector employer, told officials that any problems with shortfalls in their Olympic strategy were temporary and would be resolved.
She denied being selective in what she told MPs, insisting that the gap in the numbers only became clear on July 11, not two weeks earlier when the firm first reported problems.
'In early July it was clear that there were some initial problems which G4S said they would resolve,” Mrs May said.
'And crucially it was not until July 11 that G4S finally said, ‘Actually we can’t resolve those initial problems, we won’t be able to provide the personnel’.'
She went on: 'I haven’t been at all selective. What I’ve been is absolutely clear with the House of Commons and others about how these things developed.'
Asked what the Home Office was told at a meeting with G4S and Olympic organisers Locog on June 27, Mrs May said: 'What happened was there were some early signs of a problem with rostering staff for G4S.
'It was clear that G4S felt they were capable of dealing with that, that it would be resolved, and it was on July 11 as the chief executive of G4S told Parliament, the home affairs select committee, that G4S said, ‘Actually, we now believe we cannot produce the staff we were contracted to produce’.'
Mrs May went on: 'What I've seen here is a very organised control room, people absolutely focused on their role of providing the safety and security for the Olympic Games.
'And, crucially, there has been no compromise in security given what has taken place in recent days and I can see that, there's a visible example of that, here in this control room.
'We are constantly monitoring, constantly looking at how they are ensuring that safety and security for the Games so the people who come to these Olympic Games enjoy them for the great sporting event that they are and be able to feel safe and secure.'
With a further 1,200 troops put on 48-hour stand-by yesterday as possible support for the 17,000 servicemen and women already involved in Games security, Mrs May added: "The Government needs to be sure we can be ready for any contingencies.'
Asked if G4S should be barred from taking on any Government contracts in the future, she said the Government was working with the firm on both the Olympics and Paralympics, as well as a number of other contracts.
'G4S will still be providing a significant number of venue security personnel,' Mrs May said.
During the visit to the control room with Scotland Yard Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe and London 2012 chairman Lord Coe, Mrs May saw G4S staff and others at work in front of a bank of more than 30 large screens covering the park.
She also met Colonel Gary Wilkinson, the venue's senior military representative, and Superintendent Neil Seabridge, the Met's bronze commander at the park today.
No comments:
Post a Comment