Counter-terrorism police at the moment are main the probe into the hearth which led to the Heathrow Airport shutdown.
Detectives mentioned there’s “currently no indication of foul play”, however all traces of enquiry are being examined, it’s understood.
The elite law enforcement officials are main the investigation due to “the impact this incident has had on critical national infrastructure” and their “specialist resources and capabilities”.
More than 1,000 flights may very well be diverted, cancelled or compelled to return to their level of origin, triggering chaos throughout the World.
A spokesperson for the Met mentioned: “We are working with the London Fire Brigade to determine the reason for the hearth which stays below investigation. While there’s at present no indication of foul play we retain an open thoughts presently.
“Given the placement of the substation and the affect this incident has had on important nationwide infrastructure, the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command is now main enquiries.
“This is because of the specialist assets and capabilities inside that command that may help in progressing this investigation at tempo to minimise disruption and determine the trigger.”
Some 100,000 homes in west London were also without power overnight as 70 firefighters and 10 fire engines battled the blaze on Nestles Avenue in Hayes.
London Fire Brigade said the fire is under control and London Ambulance Service confirmed that there were no casualties.
Fears immediately surfaced that the crisis had been triggered by a Russian sabotage attack. The Kremlin’s spies are known to be recruiting criminals to carry out arson attacks and targeting transport networks.
Asked if foul play could be ruled out, Energy Secretary Mr Miliband told LBC: “There’s no suggestion that there is foul play.” Pressed on whether it was simply a “catastrophic accident”, Mr Miliband said: “The conversation I’ve had is with the National Grid, the chief executive of the National Grid and certainly, that’s what he said to me.”
Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, warned a Bulgarian spy ring convicted of spying on an “almost industrial scale” is a “clear example” of Moscow “contracting” out its intelligence gathering to proxies and criminals, adding: “We will see more of that.”
Asked if there were other more spy cells operating in Britain, Commander Murphy said: “The actuality is, it gained’t be the one exercise Russia has carried out right here within the UK and we’ve seen different disruptions into different varieties of Russian exercise.
“Ken McCallum has been very open about the fact that there has been a very regular stream of sabotage and other activities linked to the Russian intelligence services.
“In phrases of particular teams, all I can say is that inside that 20% demand, there are a variety of different investigations linked to Russia however they aren’t essentially of this sort. We have a look at plenty of worldwide threats.”
MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said Russia and Iran are on a mission to cause “mayhem” with an increase in arson, murder, kidnap and sabotage conspiracies.
The threat Moscow poses on Britain’s streets is “getting worse”, he warned.
Mr McCallum said Russia’s GRU intelligence agency, which was responsible for the Novichok poisonings in Salisbury in 2018, is behind the “sustained mission”, including that Putin’s “henchmen” are ramping up arson and sabotage operations throughout Europe “in the misguided hope of weakening Western resolve”.
Britain’s prime intelligence officer mentioned Russia and Iran are hiring criminals to hold out their “dirty work” and performing with “increasing recklessness”.
At least 24 alleged saboteurs have been arrested final 12 months after being recruited by Russian spy chiefs.
A wave of fires at arms factories and military-related industrial websites within the West has alarmed intelligence chiefs. Suspected plots have been detected in London, Germany, Czech Republic and Sweden.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/2030549/met-police-issues-major-update