UK plans big Olympic security test in London

LONDON (AP):

Britain is planning a massive Olympics security exercise this week focusing on a mock emergency on the London subway system - a test that evokes uncomfortable reminders of the deadliest attack on the city since World War II.

The security test announced yesterday envisions that an emergency takes place on the busiest days of the 2012 London Olympics. Authorities declined to reveal the exact scenario that emergency services will be addressing, since dealing with a surprise is part of the test.

"It is testing communications right from the very bottom from the constable or fire officer who is responding right the way up to Cobra, (the government's emergency committee)," Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison, the national Olympic security coordinator, told reporters at Scotland Yard.

The public will see police and emergency services hustling to the shuttered Aldwych Tube station starting at midmorning tomorrow and people being 'evacuated' from the stop as part of the test, dubbed "Forward Defensive." The Aldwych station, located on the Strand in central London, has been used in art exhibits, plays, and films - offering a venue complete with dusty platforms, narrow staircases and ageing electrical systems.

Two-day test

The two-day test is part of a multifaceted security operation aimed at creating confidence in the safety of the games. Some 2,500 people will take part, though much of the action will be taking place behind closed doors.

He said this was part of series of Olympic security exercises they have run but "the first with such a significant response from the emergency services on the ground."

The test tomorrow and Thursday will be staged as if it is August 8 and 9 - the two busiest days projected for the Olympics, which run from July 27 to August 12.

One of the primary areas under review is the communication capacities of emergency workers, different police services, government ministers, and transport officials.

London emergency workers have experienced communications problems before. Rescue and police efforts after the July 7, 2005, transit bombings that killed 52 commuters in London were severely hampered by emergency workers' inability to communicate underground. Many have wondered whether more could have been done for the injured if communications had been better.

The attacks came a day after London was awarded the Olympics, linking the two events forever.

Britain's defence secretary, meanwhile, announced that about 2,100 military reserves have been called up to help protect the event. Philip Hammond confirmed in a written statement Monday that the reservists would be part of up to 13,500 United Kingdom troops on land, at sea and in the skies guarding the games.

Typhoon fighter jets, helicopters, two warships, and bomb disposal experts will also be on duty to guard against Olympic security threats.