Edition: U.S. / Global

West London Hit by Bomb; No One Hurt

Published: April 18, 1996

An explosion rocked an expensive residential district of west London tonight after a warning call attributed to the Irish Republican Army, police and fire officials said.

The blast blew out windows at an empty house and neighboring buildings in a fashionable street called The Boltons, but no one was hurt, the police said.

An anonymous telephone call received by The Associated Press, using a recognized code word, warned that a bomb had been planted. The police said the explosion was probably the work of the I.R.A.

"There was a vast explosion that shook the house," said Carolyn Seymour, who lives nearby. "The windows almost came in."

But a Scotland Yard spokesman, Steve Park, said the blast was small, causing minimal damage.

Mr. Park said the blast occurred at 9:54 P.M., 12 minutes after the warning was received.

"The officers had just started to search the area" when the bomb went off, he said.

The I.R.A. has resumed attacks in London, but not in Northern Ireland, in its campaign to end British rule in the province.

On Feb. 9 the I.R.A. ended a 17-month cease-fire, setting off a truck bomb in east London's Docklands, killing two newspaper vendors, wounding scores and wrecking several office buildings.

Six days later, police experts defused a small bomb contained in gym bag left in a phone booth in the West End theater district of London.

Warnings were given by telephone for both of those bombs.

On Feb. 18 an I.R.A. member, Edward O'Brien, 21, blew himself up and wounded nine civilians when the briefcase bomb he was carrying accidentally detonated on a double-decker bus in London's West End.

A small I.R.A. bomb left behind garbage cans in west London on March 9 shattered windows but caused no serious injuries.

Britain and Ireland have renewed their efforts to reach a peace agreement in Northern Ireland, with plans for an election and all-party talks. But the I.R.A. has not yet announced whether it will resume its truce, which Britain has made a condition of allowing the I.R.A.'s political wing, Sinn Fein, into talks.