A propane bomb is a type of improvised explosive device which has been desirable in attacks against schools and terrorist targets in recent years due to their simplicity and low cost.
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A notable incident in which a propane bomb was used was during the Columbine High School massacre in which the two assailants Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold intended to kill students in the school cafeteria by using propane tanks fitted with timing devices. The bombs failed to detonate.
Description
Often propane bombs are crudely made, involving wiring a device into the propane tank(s) set to a timer or remote detonation. The expanding gas of the ignited propane bursts the shell of the tank and causes the explosion, similar to the fundamentals of a pressure cooker bomb or a pipe bomb.
1994–1999
In 1994, Hamas claimed responsibility for a car in Israel packed with nails and propane gas that exploded, killing the driver and seven people at a bus stop.
During the Columbine High School massacre, Harris and Klebold planted two 20-pound (9.1 kg) propane bombs in the school cafeteria. The plan was to kill as many students as possible in the explosions and to shoot down survivors when they attempt to flee. Both bombs failed to detonate, so the two students opened fire anyway, killing 12 students and 1 teacher, and injuring 21 others before both committing suicide. Another 20-pound (9.1 kg) propane bomb was found south of the school, presumably as a diversionary device for the police. Other propane tanks were found in their cars, for use as car bombs.
2000–2009
The Ghriba synagogue bombing involved a truck loaded with propane tanks detonating with its driver outside a Jewish synagogue in Tunisia, killing 16 and wounding 26. The attack was funded by al-Qaeda, organised by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
During the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack, a Jeep Cherokee loaded with propane tanks crashed into the entrance of the Glasgow International Airport. The attackers appear to have been Muslims unaffiliated with any organization who were disgruntled about the War on Terror taking place in the Middle East.
2010–present
The 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt was an attempted terrorist attack using propane tanks as car bombs, which the perpetrator Faisal Shahzad stated was revenge against the United States for the presence and attack of CIA-owned drones in Pakistan. He admitted that he had trained at a Pakistani terrorist training camp prior to the attack.
The 2012 Brindisi school bombing claimed the life of one 16-year-old female student and injured five others. It was originally blamed on the Mafia, but the confessing bomber revealed no convincing motive.
During November 2012, in Vancouver, a propane bomb was found on an elevated SkyTrain track, along with a second device. A passenger had spotted a red canister on the track which looked like small propane tanks with straps and wires. Canisters the size of a fire extinguisher were attached to an explosive device.
James Lee, armed with two starting pistols, a pipe bomb, four propane tanks and an oxygen tank, took three people hostage during the Discovery Communications headquarters hostage crisis, but Lee was shot dead by police. Lee's motive was believed to have been grounded in environmental activism.