This gallery consists of just a few selected items of major news events covered
Plane crash - Stansted 22/12/1999
Little remained of the Korean Boeing 747 cargo plane that came down in woods shortly after taking off from Stansted airport in late December 1999. All four crew were killed. One eye witness who lived close to the crash site described the sound as "like a dive-bomber coming in" and spoke of seeing a "fireball approaching" as he looked through his kitchen window. No people were injured on the ground though debris was scattered over a wide area.
© Rob Welham BA
© Rob Welham BA
Afghan hijiack - 07/02/2000
A Boeing 727 Ariana airline carrying 165 passengers which landed in the UK at around 02:00 gmt on the 7th February 2000 after being hijacked. The plane which originated from Afghanistan had been diverted from Moscow to London's Stansted airport. After a four day siege all the passengers were released and the nine hijackers were taken into custody. Many of the passengers applied for and were granted asylum in the UK. The nine hijackers also applied for asylum and in 2006 were granted leave to stay until it was safe to return to Afghanistan.
© Rob Welham BA
© Rob Welham BA
Hatfield train crash - 17/10/2000
Four passengers were killed and a further 70 injured when a GNER Intercity 125 train bound for Leeds derailed. The train had left London King's Cross at 12:10, and was travelling at approximately 185 km/h when it derailed south of Hatfield Station near Welham Green at 12:23. The primary cause of the accident was later determined to be the left hand rail fracturing as the train passed over it. Manslaughter charges brought against Railtrack and one of its executives were quashed by a British court. Other charges were also dropped though in 2005 Network Rail was found guilty of breaching health and safety law.
© Rob Welham BA
© Rob Welham BA
Foot & Mouth disease - 2001
The 2001 foot & mouth crisis was first detected at Cheales Meats abbatoir in Little Warley in Essex on February 19th, Within four days several more cases were discovered in the county. The outbreak led to the largest cull of livestock since 1967. Pigs, cattle and sheep were all subject to restrictions and there were massive pyres set up to destroy the diseased animals, such as this one in Essex.
© Rob Welham BA
© Rob Welham BA
Floods hit UK
With much of rural Britain still reeling from the devastating foot & mouth crisis, October saw floods sweeping across many parts of the country with even major cities like London affected.
© Rob Welham BA
© Rob Welham BA
Potters Bar train crash 2002
At 12:55 BST on the 10th May 2002, Britain saw another deadly train crash. Travelling at 156 km/h the West Anglia Great Northern train from Kings Cross derailed with one carraige careering onto the platform at Potters Bar station. In total there were 7 deaths and 76 injuries. The accident was blamed on a faulty set of points.
© Rob Welham BA
© Rob Welham BA
Exclusive: Godzilla the Ostrich
"An ostrich missed his 12-year‐old human companion so much that he escaped from his enclosure at an animal sanctuary and trotted a half‐mile through busy streets to wait outside the school gates.
Alarmed residents and car drivers tried to corner six foot‐tall Godzilla as he strode purposefully through the streets of Collier Row, near Romford, east London, but to no effect...." [copy from the Daily Telegraph 17/11/2001]
Taken shortly after the invasion of Afghanistan & the events of 9/11, news media lapped up this light hearted story about an ostrich on the loose. It made the papers in Britain & abroad as well as TV news & magazine shows.
Alarmed residents and car drivers tried to corner six foot‐tall Godzilla as he strode purposefully through the streets of Collier Row, near Romford, east London, but to no effect...." [copy from the Daily Telegraph 17/11/2001]
Taken shortly after the invasion of Afghanistan & the events of 9/11, news media lapped up this light hearted story about an ostrich on the loose. It made the papers in Britain & abroad as well as TV news & magazine shows.