Huge fireball at Manchester Airport as terror suspect is seized
A CAR exploded into flames at a UK airport just minutes before a man was arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences.
The drama unfolded yesterday as it was revealed police discovered a "suspicious substance" when they arrested five people while targeting a terror cell with alleged links to the deadly attacks in Paris and Brussels.
The car, believed to be a taxi or a chauffeur-driven vehicle, was outside Manchester Airport's terminal three building this morning when smoke began to billow from under the bonnet.
Moments later the vehicle dramatically burst into flames.
A shocked witness said: "The driver stopped his car and there was smoke coming out of the bonnet and then it went up in flames."
Miraculously it is not believed anyone was hurt in the fireball and flights in and out of the airport were not affected.
Just moments later, at the same airport, a teenager was arrested on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism offences.
The 18-year-old man from Birmingham was held by counter-terrorism officers after returning to the UK, West Midlands Police confirmed.
It is not thought the fireball was related to the terror arrest.
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A force spokesman said: "Today's arrest follows the arrest of a man and a woman on Monday, April 4. The pair, a 24-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman, both from Birmingham, are currently on police bail.
"There was no risk to any passengers at Manchester Airport or to the wider public in relation to these arrests."
The drama at the airport came just hours after police arrested four men and a woman as part of an investigation involving MI5 and authorities in France and Belgium, discovering what they described as a "suspicious substance".
The suspect material was discovered at an address in Birmingham, where men, aged 26, 40 and 59, and a 29-year-old woman were arrested.
A 26-year-old man was also arrested at Gatwick Airport in the early hours of Friday and all five were held on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.
Police said they are not linking the three incidents.
Counter-terrorism officers were today given seven further days to question three of the men, two aged 26 and one aged 40, and a 29-year-old woman, West Midlands Police said.
A 59-year-old man has been released on bail "with strict conditions".
West Midlands Police (WMP) said the arrests formed part of an extensive inquiry into "any associated threat" to Britain following terrorist atrocities in the French and Belgian capitals.
Officers are continuing to search a number of properties in Birmingham.
Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale said: "This action forms part of an extensive investigation by West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, together with the wider counter terrorism network, MI5 and international partners including Belgian and French authorities to address any associated threat to the UK following the attacks in Europe.
"There was no risk to the public at any time and there is no information to suggest an attack in the UK was being planned."
All five people arrested were held on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.
It comes just a week after the arrest of Mohamed Abrini, who admitted being the "man in the hat" pictured alongside two suicide bombers who blew themselves up at Brussels Airport last month.
Some 32 people were killed and nearly 300 were injured in suicide blasts at the airport and the city's Maelbeek subway station.
Abrini was the last identified suspect still at large following the November 13 attacks in Paris, which left 130 people dead.
