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Explosives similar to those used in London bombings found at Brisbane home Explosives similar to those used in London bombings found at Brisbane home
(about 1 hour later)
Explosives similar to those used in the London bombings and maps identifying possible targets were found at a Brisbane home where police have carried out controlled explosions. Police are refusing to comment on reports that Sydney’s busy Central railway station was a possible target for explosive chemicals found stockpiled at a Brisbane house.
Crudely drawn maps appearing to show targets in Sydney and Newcastle were also found at the Pullenvale rental home, where police have been investigating the discovery of a stockpile of volatile chemicals in a storage shed. Nine News says police are investigating whether the railway station and another location in Newcastle, north of Sydney, might have been targets for more than 50 kilograms of explosive material found at a Pullenvale house last week.
Queensland police could not confirm the details of the find, reported in the Courier-Mail, but said more information about the case could be released later on Tuesday. Nine says police identified the sites after two crudely-drawn mud maps were found at the house, where officers carried out 17 controlled blasts last week to rid the property of highly volatile chemicals.
Australian federal police told reporters they were assisting Queensland police with the investigation, but state officers were still leading the operation. They reportedly include three types of peroxide-derived mixers, including one known as DMDT which Nine said was used in the 2005 bombings that targeted London’s transport network.
The rental home became the centre of a big police operation last week when a real estate agent, who had gone there after a New South Wales couple abandoned the property, found the chemicals in the shed. One of the mud maps carried the words “George Street” and “uniform” and an arrow pointing to an intersection.
The newspaper has said the man who rented the property is now in custody after being arrested last month on unrelated charges in Newcastle. Police believe it identifies the corner of George Street and Rawson Place, next to Sydney’s Central station. At the end of the street is a uniform shop.
The Courier-Mail said it was understood one of the maps found at the site carried the words “George St” and “uniform”, believed to refer to a uniform shop near Sydney’s Central station. The other mud map carries the words “brothel”, “bridge” and “grave”, believed to identify a site in Newcastle where there is a brothel across the road from a cemetery and close to a small railway overpass.
The second included the words “brothel”, “bridge” and “grave”, believed to refer to a location in Newcastle. Queensland police are refusing to comment on every aspect of the report, saying only that the investigation involves multiple agencies and is ongoing.
They’ve also declined to answer specific questions, including whether they have interviewed the former tenant of the Pullenvale house who is now in custody in Newcastle on unrelated charges.
Australian federal police told reporters they are assisting Queensland police, but state officers are in charge of the investigation.
Specialist x-ray equipment is reportedly being brought in to look through the walls and the floors of the Pullenvale house.
NSW police are also refusing to comment on the investigation, despite the suggestion of two potential target sites in the state.
A spokesman for NSW police minister, Stuart Ayres, said he was aware of the incident, but would not be commenting while the police investigation is underway.
Nine has said 29kg of explosive chemicals were found at the house, alongside another 22 litres of liquid explosive material.
They comprised three distinct types of peroxide-derived mixers: TATP, HMDT, and DMDT, with the latter used in the London attacks.
Police have not said if they know the whereabouts of a woman who was living at the Pullenvale house with the man now in custody in Newcastle.
The man is facing charges dating from 2012 of wounding, assault, weapon and drug possession. He is due to face a NSW court again later this month.