1978 London bus attack

1978 London bus attack
Location Europa Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London
Date 20 August 1978
Attack type
 Shooting, grenade attacks
Weapons Submachine guns, hand grenades
Deaths 2
Non-fatal injuries
 9
Perpetrators Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

On 20 August 1978, a staff bus of El Al airlines in London was attacked by Palestinian terrorists.[1] A flight attendant and one terrorist were killed in the attack, and nine people were wounded.[2][3]

Attack

At around 13:30, a minibus with staff of the El Al airlines was attacked during a stopover at the Europa Hotel in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, central London, when two or three men opened fire with submachine guns and hand grenades.[2][3] An El Al flight attendant was killed in the attack, while members of a wedding party were among those wounded by gun shots and a taxi driver was blown from his cab by a grenade.[2][3] A man presumed to be one of the terrorists was found dead after the attack.[2] A second terrorist was captured by the police, while a possible third escaped.[3]

Aftermath

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for the attack.[2][3] The area of the attack was noted as a hotspot of Arab terrorist activity in the country.[4] The flight attendant killed in the attack, Irit Gidron, 29, was buried in Israel next to the victims of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.[4] The terrorist captured, Fahad Mihyi, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the attack.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Rubin, Barry; Rubin, Judith Colp (2015). Chronologies of Modern Terrorism. Routledge. p. 193. ISBN 9781317474654.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "1978: Two dead after El Al crew ambushed". BBC News. 20 August 1978.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Terrorist Attack on El Al Mini-bus Kills Airline Stewardess, injures 8". JTA. 21 August 1978.
  4. 1 2 "Irit Gidron, Terrorist Victim, Buried Alongside Victims of Munich Massacre". JTA. 23 August 1978.
  5. ↑ "Terrorist Incidents against Jewish Communities and Israeli Citizens Abroad, 1968-2003". International Institute for Counter-Terrorism. 20 December 2003.

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