Man 'strapped in gasoline cylinders' threatens to blow up London office building

Cassandra Vinograd LONDON The Associated Press Published Friday, Apr. 27, 2012 9:03AM EDT Last updated Friday, Apr. 27, 2012 10:16AM EDT

Heavily armed, masked police surrounded a site in central London on Friday after a woman reported that a mentally unstable man had walked into her office threatening to blow himself up.

Scotland Yard said in a statement that police were called to Tottenham Court Road, a busy central London avenue, just before noon and have sent a negotiator to the site. Office supplies, including computer monitors, were being thrown from the building's fifth-floor window.

The area was cordoned off, nearby buildings were evacuated and a police sniper was stationed on a rooftop near the building.

It's unclear if other people (are) in the building, police said in a statement, adding they aren't treating the incident as terror-related.

The Huffington Post, whose offices are just off Tottenham Court Road, said its building was among those evacuated. It quoted one witness as saying that a man had walked into her office strapped up in gasoline cylinders.

Basically he threatened to blow up the office, Abby Baafi, 27, told the website. He said he doesn't care about his life, he doesn't care about anything, he's going to blow up everybody.

Construction worker Martynas Vristiuk, 26, said he was out smoking a cigarette when a window above him was shattered and someone began throwing computer monitors into the street only 3 metres from where he was standing.

He threw 10 computers, Mr. Vristiuk told The Associated Press, adding that one was tossed onto a police car.

Fellow worker Dennis Gorsanenko, 23, said he was at a construction site adjacent the building in question when a police officer ordered everyone out. He said: There's a guy with a bomb on his belt.

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Man 'strapped in gasoline cylinders' threatens to blow up London office building