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HOW THE BOMBERS BLEW UP THE BANK

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SCMP Reporter

INSIDE the Bishopsgate headquarters of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank it began as quietly as any other drowsy Saturday in the City of London.

While most of the brokers, dealers and pinstripe-suited wheelers and dealovers, London's secret army of electricians, engineers, cleaners and security guards had begun work.

As the spring sunshine shone on the curiously parked blue dumper truck parked outside, they began clearing the debris of the previous week's work, downloading computer systems and fixing burned out light sockets.

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Somewhere a security camera whirred gently and captured a grainy image of two hooded men getting out of the truck and walking down Bishopsgate.

Minutes later the morning's calm was shattered when a huge IRA fertiliser bomb ripped through the heart of the Square Mile.

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Inside the glass-facaded lobby of the Hongkong Bank lay press photographer Ed Henty, blown through the windows by the explosion.

Near the reception desk, security guard Mr Ray Fayers dazed at the shattered ceiling, his face covered in cuts after being flung against the marble walls. Another security guard lay unconscious in the stairwell, a heavy wooden door flattened on his bleeding body.

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