Blast near Tipton mosque treated as ‘terrorist incident’

A reported explosion near a mosque in the West Midlands is being treated as a terrorist incident, police say. A number of roads around Binfield Street in Tipton have been cordoned off after residents reported hearing a loud bang before finding nails and debris.

There are no reports of any injuries, West Midlands Police said, but streets were evacuated as a precautionary measure.

Witness said :  “terrified and very scared”.

‘People terrified’

“Some residents have reported finding debris in the area and finding nails.

“This is being investigated by counter terrorism detectives and forensic officers at the scene.”

Shopkeeper Sadarat Khan said he was coming out of a local chemist when he heard a “bomb blast”.

“I did tell the police there to evacuate the area, please for god’s sake – there were nails all over the place,” he said.

“They didn’t seem to be bothered too much… It took them about 40 minutes to evacuate the place.

“People were terrified and very scared and shaken”.

BBC reporters at the scene were told that prayers at the mosque were usually held at 13:00 BST, but had been moved to 14:00 BST because of Ramadan.

“Residents say the mosque would have been full had the timings not changed for Friday prayers, which would have meant casualties,” BBC 5 live reporter Phil Mackie said.

Among the road closures are parts of Sedgley Road East, Dudley Port, Jays Avenue, Tudor Court, Park Lane East, Crompton Road and Victoria Road.

A force spokesman said: “Police have been called to Binfield Street in Tipton this afternoon following reports of a loud bang.

Source : BBC

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