-Caveat Lector- >From The Sunday Times, http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/99/09/19/stinwenws01029.html?99 9 - September 19 1999 BRITAIN Giant morgue prepared for New Year disasters Maurice Chittenden A SPORTS centre with room for up to 1,000 bodies has been set aside as a makeshift mortuary in case of a disaster in London on millennium night. More than 2m people are expected to line the banks of the Thames to celebrate the arrival of the 21st century. Emergency planners fear many could end up in the river, on purpose or by accident. One reason the river event, known as Big Time, is being staged is to help divert crowds from Trafalgar Square, the traditional place of celebration. But the waterside setting has raised safety concerns. Police, fire and ambulance services are to stage a disaster exercise using life-sized dummies in preparation. Council officers will be paid up to £500 each to be on standby to open the Queen Mother Sports Centre in Victoria as a morgue. In the event of a major civil emergency, bodies will be laid across five badminton courts in the sports hall. The government is considering closing some of the busiest Thames bridges, or allowing only police, fire engines and ambulances access. The bridges will be among the best vantage points to see the promised "river of fire" show, a 15-minute firework display just after midnight launched from barges on the Thames. A control centre at Westminster city hall will monitor the crowds using closed circuit television. Police have been trying to reduce the New Year crowds in Trafalgar Square since 1982, when two women were crushed to death and 193 people injured. In recent years the crowd has dropped from a peak of 120,000 to 70,000. The "river of fire" is intended to attract people away from the square to the Thames embankment. Nick Raynsford, the minister for London, said: "I want to make it clear that in planning this event safety has been our prime concern." A spokesman for the Port of London Authority, which will control boats on the Thames, said: "We have to assume the worst, which means not just the expectation that a number of people will be depressed and try to commit suicide or that cults may stage mass suicides, but that far greater numbers of people, sparked by exuberance and too much drink, will jump in for a laugh, not realising how much trouble they can get into." -- Dan S DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
