CTV;
One man is dead following an explosion at a Tim Hortons restaurant in downtown Toronto.
The blast occurred in the washroom of the coffee shop located near the intersection of Yonge and Bloor Streets, just after 1 p.m.
Emergency crews responded to the scene and tried to help the victim. Fire department spokesman Daryl Fuglerud said the man had burns to his body. They do not know if he was a customer or an employee.
No details or speculation yet as to the cause, but all joking about “natural gas” aside, a washroom wouldn’t seem to be the likely place for an explosion.
Continuing updates – over radio: The man killed was wearing the explosives, his body is still at the scene. He is not an employee, but has not been identified … Another evacuation is underway at a different Tim Hortons, because of a suspicious package…
Commentor “BC Monkey” writes;
That Timmie’s is directly besides the subway entrance to Yonge/Bloor station, the busiest subway station in Toronto. […] Just watched the 6 o’clock news. There is another Timmie’s shut off for a suspicious package at Lawrence and Yonge, that’s about 8 km north of the first incident, yes, near another station. (Though I doubt this second Timmie’s will amount to much.)
Update II – CTV is now reporting the man carried a can of gasoline into the washroom.
According to police, another man smelled gasoline fumes and ran out, yelling. A few moments later the blast occurred.
Investigators do not know what ignited the gasoline or what the deceased man’s motives were. Suspicion is focusing on either suicide or arson. They say he was definitely not a terrorist.
“He’s not a strap-on al-Qaida bomber guy,” Toronto Police Staff Sgt. Don Cole said Sunday evening. “It sounds to me like a guy who either wanted to do a torch job or commit suicide.”
[…]
Toronto’s police chief, Bill Blair, declined to discuss the possibility of a bomb.
He described the blast as “a very hot and intense fire in an enclosed area within the washroom.”
The police bomb squad worked at the scene for much of the afternoon.
Bizarre.
Steve in BC….LOL
However, I have not mentioned any conspiracies. What I did say was that the silence drives the conspiracies. I also contrasted the police response in the UK to todays apparent silence.
The thought that there migght be a suicide bomber plot is a problem, let alone whether there really is one or not.
As I said, best approach is for the TO Police is to state they’ll hold press conferences at 5, 8 and 11 to update on what is going on. Then everybody stands down.
Going to ground doesnt work well, especially when many many people have to make their choices in relatively short order.
Just flow the information thats all
If the explosion was contained in the washroom and the guy was just set on fire. There are two possibilities. He just had enough explosives on him to kill himself and no one else. This would explain why he went into the washroom before detonating. He wasn’t interested in taking anyone else with him.
OR
Just the detonator exploded and not the entire bomb!! If he was a suicide bomber he may have gone into the washroom to do the final configuring of the bomb. While doing this the detonator explodes but the bomb itself doesn’t because it is not yet connected and the detonator explosion is too small and the bombers body takes the full impact of the detonator.
Just fixing my URL. Thanks to a tip in my own comments from Chris from Victoria, BC, I now realize I entered .ca instead of .com. Boy, do I ever feel like an idiot… now I understand Paul Martin a little better! LOL
Thanks, Chris from Victoria BC! 🙂
If this turns out to be suicide bomber, he could have been screwed up by the time change.
There were a couple of suicide bombers in Gaza or the West Bank a few years ago who blew themselves up by mistake because of the switch to DST. They thought they had an another hour and ended up dying of premature detonation.
I’m aware of police info now about the decedent having had a canister of gasoline in his possession, which would obviously have blown up had he lit a match (folks do that a lot after you-know).
Of course, the gasoline could’ve been used as part of a terrorist act somehow, though I’m no explosives expert.
And I saw on the CTV Newsnet that police claim he wasn’t a “terrorist or suicide bomber”, but I’ve heard them say that before, even though it later turned out that it was indeed a failed terrorist attack.
I did a post recently following up on the OU Stadium bombing which was screwed up by Joel Henry Hinrichs III last fall. For the post plus links to my previous posts on the incident, here’s the link:
http://thecanadiansentinel.blogspot.com/2006/03/failed-ou-terror-bombing-not-suicide.html
Despite what the police told the CTV, we cannot simply assume they’re telling us the truth or the whole story. I’ve seen them lie through their teeth wrt the Hinrichs incident.
BTW, did y’all know the owner of the Tims is a Mr. Islam? What’re the odds?
I plan on doing a follow-up post perhaps tomorrow on this. We may have more info. The blognet never sleeps, even when I do…
Speculation should include the possibility of an incompetent terrorist. Badly made homebrew explosives will tend to burn fiercely rather than explode. Badly made black-powder devices could do the same, like a pipe bomb the idiot didn’t screw together right.
IF the guy really did have the stuff strapped on, he likely went into the can to arm the device and muffed it.
Best possible outcome, in my opinion. One less scumbag bomber in the world for the cost of a re-paint in the dumper at Timmies, plus a casualty free wake-up call for the voters of Moronto.
The only way it could be improved upon is if he managed to take out a few of his brothers in arms plus the bomb factory when he strapped it on.
Spike: I seem to recall an early-mid ’90s mini street riot stemming from a downtown rally which shut down that particular subway station. The rally came about after a racial incident in the U.S. Maybe Rodney King trial verdict?
You don’t do a suicide with a can of gas in private.
Why was it reported earlier that the man was wearing explosives when he was found?
Sounds like spin to me.
No “terrorism”? CBC says so. So there. +
No terrorism in deadly Toronto doughnut shop explosion: police
Last Updated Sun, 02 Apr 2006 20:23:42 EDT
CBC News
Re Trev’s “Everyone should focus on priority 1, which is defeating that pathetic excuse of a mayor in seven months”:
‘Sure wish I could, but I don’t live in Toronto!
And, yes, David Miller was born in England, he’s a socialist, and he went to a boy’s private school here in Canada, Lakefield College School: go figure. A “Rosedale Socialist”: It’s so easy to live high off the hog, all the while giving away the taxpayers’ hard-earned $$$$$$.
FANTINO FOR MAYOR, FOR SURE!
BTW: Get to the microphones, Mr. Miller. We wouldn’t mind knowing what the heck’s going on.
I love these TV news guys eh? “It was only gasoline, so it couldn’t be terrorism!”
Uh huh. Guess they have never seen gasoline burn in an enclosed space. Never heard of smoke inhalation either…
How can people that stupid keep drawing a paycheck? This is one of the great mysteries of life.
Jeez, I guess now that Calgary is Canada’s Number One town, you can be expecting all sorts of this shit from now on. When he I see Ahmed with his bomb belt, I’ll just tell him: “Go West, young Imam!”
OK, relax, everyone. Toronto is still safe. Steve d. is on the right (rationale) track. And, since the EMS guys “attended to” the victim, I think he may not have loaded with explosives. It’s also pretty hard to be in a densely populated part of the City of Toronto and NOT be near the subway. Looks like a (successful) nut bar suicide attempt. It’s really hard to find a gun.
Andy
“Perhaps a disgruntled ex-employee.” A disgruntled Tim Hortons employee? Home of Timbits, Tim’s Coffee, and Roll up the Rim? Man, today I just bit into an apple fritter — it was filled with caramel!!!! Don’t dash my Canadian dream, man.
Maybne someone doesn’t want a timmies outlet going to Afganistan
This could still be a fizzled suicide bomb attenpt. I would think that the quality of the nut-bar is inversly proportional to the amount of virgins available in paradise. Now that the Danish press has let the cat out of the bag it must be much harder to recruit quality nutters.
Just wonder if the toronto mayor is taking lessons from the N.O mayor or vice versa. Both seem unable to make a decision. Did you hear that there is a mayoral election coming up in N.O. and they are wondering how to get ballots to all the former residents. Last count was 124 running for the job. How many running against miller.
Gasoline doesn’t explode all that easily.
That’s why us Scots wear kilts no only do zipppers scare the sheep but sparks can set off bad gases!
This is of course, a terrible thing! All the more reason now that we need to regulate the sale of gasoline. We should be especially careful of any Muslims that purchase gasoline using gas containers.
It’s just not right that folks have access to gasoline, which can cause explosions and possibly kill people, is it? As our commentor above wondered, what IS the name of this person who caused this deed? After we learn of his name, we can use that information to regulate gas sales to people with similar names, of course.
Those cranberry wholewheat muffins have that ‘explosive’ effect. 🙁
Robin Banks — LMAO. Good on ya mate.
Duke — Right on. Whatever comes out now in the MSM will be read with a whole whack of reserve because the longer the delay, the longer they think of how they are going to spin it.
I will be reading and watching the news tomorrow, but the tin foil will be adjusted extra tight lest I be fooled by lies. I read it early on, so apologize for not giving the credit, but you are right — blame it on GW Bush.
You guys are hilarious. Why don’t you stop living your lives in fear. I bet you would have loved it if this had been a terrorist attack so it could validate your paranoid views of the world.
Sadasusal, this blog is almost like the equivalent of the “Art Bell” show on radio 🙂
In other words, for entertainment purposes only, Sadasusal 🙂
has anybody considered the possibility that maybe he needed gas for his lawn mower or something . got some gas in a two-bit jerrycan with a shitty lid , needed a leak . lit up a smoke and the fumes from the can ignited ? accidents do happen . just a thought eh. enjoy your double doubles
John, very few people that visit this blog would ever consider such a thing, when it’s far more fun and of course, helps to validate their own beliefs,t hat this was.. well.. some poor guy, about to shit his pants before he walked into a subway to blow himself up. You know, terrorists really do concern themselves about how it all looks. It’s really important to clean those bowels before blowing oneself up, you know?
I forgot.. what we haven’t been told yet, is whether there were any Masonic symbols or perhaps Stars of David grafitti on the walls of that Tim Horton’s bathroom cubicle. Maybe that is what set the terrorist off before he got to his real target, the subway station, a block away.
I mean, we really ought to look at all the evidence, right, in coming to our beliefs that this really was or could have been a … shhh.. “terrorist” attack.
Apparently, some French Guy did something similar, years ago. In the bathroom of the House of Commons. And we all know the political statement Tim Hortons makes!! Those god damned left wingers, asking us to support summer camps for the “poor.”
Hey! Maybe it was a socialist, that was pissed off at Tim Horton’s taking on the role of helping the poor, as all good right wing corporations sometimes do.
I think BC Monkey and Steve A are awesome thinkers though. They just seem to know about this whole event.. and oh, then there is Duke… can’t forget about his insights.
i’m sorry maybe somebody mentioned it but if i was going to do a suicede bombing i’d try to get maybe a bit more firepower together than maybe just enough to blow the lid off a freakin toilet . i usually don’t disagree with people that comment here but i read the first 6 or 7 comments and couldn’t quit laughing . sorry folks but a can of gas ? c’mon
Hehe, John. Well, I have to admit that once in a while, I agree with Kate.
But you know, I’m wondering how long it will take her to update the post, with the news that is now hours old, that the Police in Toronto have categorically denied this had anything to do with terrorism?
I mean.. it’s all about “blogger credibility” and such, right?
The real reason he did this is because he couldn’t stand the thought he might see a clip on some news program, or entertainment show, of Pam trying to be funny at the Juno Awards. Saw her on the ctv news. Don’t think she went over with the audience. During that clip she had changed outfits 3 times.
mary t did she get re-inflated ? read she blew one.
Dang, I think I need a large double-double and, let’s see, two (three?) Canadian Maples to start dealing with this . . .
Nothing to see here….just one of Scott Brison’s buddies trying to short Tim’s stock.
In my tours as a Canadian soldier,i once saw a man blow himself up inadvertantly ,while i was in Eritrea.
All i can say is that dogs eat bigger scraps of meat than what was left of the man who detonated a 105mm artillery round against his body.It is a little known fact that in suicide bombing cases(espc. in Israel) they can identify the bomber because the head usually pops off the body and is left intact 70%of the time..
The issue here, just in case you middle-of-the-night jokers missed it, is that something untoward happened near a very busy intersection in Toronto and Torontonians and Canadians have a right to know what’s going on. Is that too much to ask our pygmy leaders?
Before 9/11, it would merely have been a local incident. Any “explosion” in a public place after that is more than local news, and there’s no excuse, except for gross incompetency, for David Miller, his police chief, and fire chief to be “mum” about what’s going on.
Do you remember the shots fired on Yonge Street near the Eaton Centre on December 26 last year, killing Jane Creba? David Miller was in Mexico with his family. HE SPOKE TO REPORTERS AND OTHERS BY PHONE and it took him days to get his butt off the beach and back in the saddle as Toronto’s (Most Incompetent) Mayor; well, almost most incompetent: There was Mel Lastman, afterall. Really impressive I’m-in-charge behaviour.
So knock-knock, David Miller. Anyone home? Answer the door…
I suppose its possible they don’t know who the guy is yet. If explosion boy didn’t have any ID on him, plus he’s burnt, kinda hard to put a name to the corpse.
More likely they know the guy’s name is vaguely Arabic and they don’t want to stampede the sheeple. Automatic response for Liberal/NDP officials, comes of their heart felt belief that Canadians are idiots.
To The Bear up above there who says gasoline doesn’t explode all that easily, I guess like the CBC reporters you don’t understand the meaning of the word “inflammable”. Here’s a couple more for you to look up: “Molotov cocktail”, and “fuel/air bomb”. Try “dust explosion” too, just for a giggle.
A dissatisfied share purchaser?
This is from Human Rights Watch: Quote
FAEs (Fuel Air Explosives)are more powerful than conventional high-explosive munitions of comparable size, are more likely to kill and injure people in bunkers, shelters, and caves, and kill and injure in a particularly brutal manner over a wide area. In urban settings it is very difficult to limit the effect of this weapon to combatants, and the nature of FAE explosions makes it virtually impossible for civilians to take shelter from their destructive effect. Unquote
In other words had this type of bomb been used outside the drivers control room on a Toronto subway car. The driver would most likely be killed (as those others on the enclosed train) which would have left the subway train speeding along the track until it caught up to the train in front of it.
the israelie consulate, tourist office + el al are all within a 5 minute walk from that timmies…
Tom wrote: the israelie (sic) consulate, tourist office + el al are all within a 5 minute walk from that timmies…
That’s true Tom also the British consulate is nearby as well I believe.
All that being said, he could be just some poor guy who ran out of gas and was walking back to his car, decided to stop for a double double and a bathroom break and somehow his gas can ignited. We don’t know at this point.
However,saying, (to quote Officer Barbrady of South Park) “OK people, nothing to see here, move along.” causes people to be careless and let down their guard.
Like it or not, believe it or not, we are at war with people who want to destroy our way of life and to kill us. Being apathetic and careless will get you killed.
Who is Mr. “X”? Have his next-of-kin been notified? +
“He’s not a strap-on al-Qaida bomber guy,” Cole said. “It sounds to me like a guy who either wanted to do a torch job or commit suicide.”
via cnews
I hope that some of you will be able to contain your disappointment should this incident have nothing to do with international terrorism or
an islamofascist threat against the Canadian way of life.
Quote: “It sounds to me like a guy who either wanted to do a torch job or commit suicide.”
Ah…yer classic ‘innocent bystander’.
To those of you scolding people for discussing the possibility of this being a possible suicide bomber/terrorist attack –
Not that many years ago, things blew up or caught fire and almost exclusively, they were accidents or run of the mill arsons. You might have noticed current events lately that show that are not only accidents and arsons still happening, nasty, crazy people have taken up causing these things for sport.
Pardon the hell out of us for discussing the possibility that a nasty, crazy person was involved.
how about identifying the dead man, so we can perhaps draw some conclutions about motive … for ourselves.
agitfact said: “an islamofascist threat against the Canadian way of life.”
Dream on; sleep tight, dhimmi. +
Alleged al-Qaida conspirator pleads innocence in jailhouse interview with Sun
By LISA LISLE, SUN MEDIA
TORONTO — A newmarket man accused of having ties to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden denies having any links to terrorism.
“That is totally ridiculous,” Raja Ghulam Mustafa said yesterday in an exclusive jailhouse interview with Sun Media.
In fact, Mustafa said he didn’t even know who bin Laden was until he was making headlines after 9/11.
“The first time I heard about him was in 2001,” Mustafa said. “Before that I didn’t know who it was. Someone explained him to me.”
As first revealed in the Calgary Sun, Mustafa was arrested on an immigration warrant outside his Newmarket apartment March 16.
Mustafa is officially accused of filing a bogus refugee claim by using the name Murtaza.
Held at the Toronto West Detention Centre under the name Murtaza, Mustafa said he took that name to protect himself when he came to Canada through the U.S. in 2003.
“I had to save my life,” he said, explaining he was fleeing arrest in Pakistan for deserting the Pakistani army.
Claiming his bust as one of the most significant terrorism arrests in Canada since 9/11, immigration sources have told the Sun Mustafa is believed to be the captain of the Pakistani extremist organization Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.
Also known as LET, the violent group is funded by bin Laden and has ties to al-Qaida.
Calm and well-mannered, Mustafa, 40, said he was just heading out to get groceries when he was picked up outside his home. +
http://www.paulding.net/bin/url.cgi/13241.10
calgary sun
If I wanted to buy a block of Timmie stock cheap, I’d hire a drug addled berzerker to light a couple up. 😉
I’ll watch the trading today to see what happens.
Robin B., I have no doubt that a “nasty, crazy person” was involved. (Nice suicides normally don’t try to involve others in their self-destruction.) We’ve always had, and always will, have those with us. I just don’t want any joyful leaps of logic to the “global” struggle some of you enjoy preaching so much.
And maz2, if I had to choose between “dhimmitude” and “dimmitude” (another new word, but I’m sure you get the drift,) I might go for the former.
What I want to know is what Charlie Sheen thinks of this!