An immediate and urgent investigation is under by counter terror police over the Heathrow Airport fire amid fears of Russian sabotage.
Heathrow is Europe’s busiest airport, and it is estimated 290,000 passengers have been affected as the it has closed for the day.
National Grid told the Energy Minister Ed Miliband that they have never seen “anything like the scale” of this fire, however, there is currently no signs of any sabotage.
Security expert Will Geddes has warned Vladimir Putin could target the airport as tensions between Moscow and London have hit all-time highs.
Geddes told the Daily Mail, “If I was a foreign hostile party and I wanted to disrupt one of the busiest airports in the world, cause international embarrassment, create many, many question marks, I would target something like a substation.
“The Russians are looking at everything. They’re looking at our fibre optics under the sea, they’re looking at our nuclear power stations, we know hostile reconnaissance is going on right now.
“So for this to be taken down so easily and cause such an impact, one has got to say if I was Russia, that’s where I would focus my attentions as well.”
Miliband is demanding that improvements are made for the “protection and resilience of major institutions” flowing the enormous fire.
Miliband said the fire “appears to have knocked out a back-up generator as well as the substation itself” adding this has made the airport “quite vulnerable.”
Speaking to the BBC he said, “It’s too early to say what caused this but I think obviously we will have to look hard at the causes and also the protection and the resilience that is in place for major institutions like Heathrow.”
A spokesperson for the Met said, “We are working with the London Fire Brigade to establish the cause of the fire which remains under investigation.
“While there is currently no indication of foul play we retain an open mind at this time. Given the location of the substation and the impact this incident has had on critical national infrastructure, the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command is now leading enquiries.
“This is due to the specialist resources and capabilities within that command that can assist in progressing this investigation at pace to minimise disruption and identify the cause.”
