Bystanders were left shocked after the bus passing through the central London bridge burst into flames, leaving some witnesses in fear of a terrorist attack.
The stunt was being filmed for a scene in the upcoming action movie The Foreigner, starring Jackie Chan[2] and Pierce Brosnan[3].
Although warnings had been posted that the explosion would be taking place on Sunday, many locals took to social media to express their concern.
"Hey film types next time you blow up a bus on Lambeth Bridge maybe tell us first so children in park aren't freaked?" one user wrote.
Hey film types next time you blow up a bus on Lambeth Bridge maybe tell us first so children in park aren't freaked? pic.twitter.com/8Ui6YoE9N0[4]
— Sophie Kinsella (@KinsellaSophie) February 7, 2016[5]
@se1 fairly worrying robe woken up to an explosion and my first blurry eyed vision is this on Lambeth bridge!! pic.twitter.com/o91Up9vbgO[6][7]
— Anders (@IndiAndersJones) February 7, 2016[8]
The blast created a large fireball that ripped the top off the bus off as it crossed the bridge.
Nigel Huddleston, a member of Parliament for mid-Worcestershire, caught the explosion on camera and posted it to Twitter to help explain what was happening.
"Anyone worried about the exploding bus on Lambeth Bridge just now? It was just for a movie," he wrote.
Anyone worried about the exploding bus on Lambeth Bridge just now? It was just for a movie. pic.twitter.com/1ypWZZ6jPp[9]
— Nigel Huddleston MP (@HuddlestonNigel) February 7, 2016[10]
Huddleston also spoke to The Guardian[11], saying it's easy to understand why locals and tourists might have been alarmed at the sight of the blast.
"The scale and realism of the explosion would have worried a lot of people who were quite a long way off and not able to see the film crew and cameras," he said. "Walking past parliament a few minutes later, some tourists clearly had no idea whether it was real or not."
He also recognized the need for more warnings for such events.
"It is great that London is such a desirable location for filming," he said, "but the filmmakers and authorities could clearly have done a better job at c ommunicating – especially in times of heightened security."
References
- ^ Follow @JodiGug3 on Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ Jackie Chan (www.people.com)
- ^ Pie rce Brosnan (www.people.com)
- ^ pic.twitter.com/8Ui6YoE9N0 (t.co)
- ^ February 7, 2016 (twitter.com)
- ^ @se1 (twitter.com)
- ^ pic.twitter.com/o91Up9vbgO (t.co)
- ^ February 7, 2016 (twitter.com)
- ^ pic.twitter.com/1ypWZZ6jPp (t.co)
- ^ February 7, 2016 (twitter.com)
- ^ The Guardian (www.theguardian.com )
