Random tests find Semtex

Thursday 16 January 1997 00:02 GMT

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Two taxis based at Heathrow Airport were found to have traces of Semtex explosive by scientists carrying out random tests.

The discovery, which took the scientists by surprise, came during a Home Office study to assess the risk of innocent people becoming terrorist suspects through accidental contamination.

Traces of the Semtex constituent RDX were also found on a luggage handling surface at Heathrow.

The study, reported in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, was conducted by the Defence Evaluation Research Agency's forensic explosives laboratory at Fort Halstead, Kent. A spokesman said: "One possibility is that the taxis had carried a service person or somebody who dealt with explosives in a commercial capacity."

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