Birmingham blue lights take part in simulated terror attack

Birmingham's International Convention Centre (ICC) was the venue of a simulated terrorist attack to test the reactions of the emergency services and the army.

The exercise centred around a scenario that 150 people attending a multi-faith meeting in the International Convention Centre (ICC) had been exposed to toxic gas.

All of the emergency services and the army were involved and the venue was evacuated as part of the exercise.

Reactions will be analysed to help identify practices and procedures to improve emergency responses.

Most participants knew they were taking part in an emergency services exercise but were not given exact details. They were told one elderly man had died and others showed symptoms of poisoning.

Some of the people taking part were given roles to play such as a terrorist or as someone exhibiting symptoms of nerve gas agent infection.

This was the first of three exercises taking place across Europe over the next two years, as part of an EU-funded initiative to improve resilience to terrorist attacks and also so researchers can establish the best way to distribute information in an emergency.