LAS PALMAS AIRPORT, CANARY ISLANDS – Tiny terrorist attacks can at times lead to catastrophic death levels.
I would imagine that every terrorist has grand goals in mind. After all, if you are going to kill yourself you want to make a statement, no? And what better way to do so than to take as many lives as possible at the same time?
It is also probable that a given terrorist has no real idea just how much his (or her) act will reverberate down the line. S/he has neither the smarts nor even the intention, perhaps, to realise just where all this is going.
One such event occurred way back in 1977.
On this day in 1977
A small bomb went off in the terminal of the Las Palmas airport in the Spanish Canary Islands, wounding only one person. This small act, however, led to the closure of that facility, the rerouting of planes to Tenerife, and the single largest airplane collision in history when two 747s collided, leading to the deaths of 583 people. The original bomb was placed by the Movimiento para la Autodeterminación e Independencia del Archipiélago Canario (MPAIAC), a Canary Islands independence group.
Canarias se encuentra en estado de guerra desde el primero de noviembre y hemos advertido a todos los turistas que no vengan a las islas mientras no se alcance la independencia y se normalice la situación. (The Canary Islands have been in a state of war since November 1st and we have warned all tourists not to visit until we get independence and the situation returns to normal).
Antonio Cubillo, Secretary-General of MPAIAC
I am going out on a limb by stating that MPAIAC had no idea what its tiny act of terrorism would lead to (do you agree?). Well, as they say, a butterfly’ wings in one part of the world can set off a cascading series of events that lead to a hurricane elsewhere. Maybe not, but there certainly was a cause and effect here!
Read More Today in Terrorism
May 31, 1906: Spanish anarchist bombs royal wedding
On May 31, 1906 a Spanish anarchist threw a bomb hoping to hit King Alfonso XIII, killing 24 and wounding more than 100.
May 30, 2009: Anti-government group bombs TV station in Ecuador
On May 30, 2009 two pamphlet-bombs exploded outside an Ecuadorian TV station and ministry: no victims or significant damage ensued.
May 29, 2016: ISIS uses chlorine gas in terrorist attack
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