Blazing 4x4 rammed into airport terminal

An apparent car bomb attack on a crowded Glasgow airport ended in blazing failure tonight as the weekend onslaught of would-be terror outrages continued.

A Jeep Cherokee containing two Asian-looking men rammed the doors of the main terminal building and burst into flames.But amazingly only one person was injured, one of the men in the car who fell out with his clothes on fire.

Two men were arrested following the incident. One was being treated in hospital tonight.

The attack came as police in London continued to hunt for terrorists who planted two car bombs which failed to detonate in the West End yesterday.

Roads around Glasgow airport were shut off and flights were also suspended until further notice causing chaos to families heading away on the first day of the school holidays. Around 35,000 passengers were expected to be affected by the closure.

A police spokeswoman said: "Strathclyde Police would like to reassure the public that it is unknown at present if this is connected with the incidents in London as inquiries are at an early stage.

"However, we would ask the public to remain vigilant."Prime Minister Gordon Brown was forced to call a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee in Whitehall in response to the incident which came just two hours after an earlier meeting to discuss the London bombs ended.

Airports in other parts of Britain were also reported to have stepped up security, as well as in America. The Glasgow attack began with the revving vehicle trying to smash through the doors of Terminal One but becoming stuck outside.

Eyewitness Stephen Clarkson told Sky News one of the men tried to open the boot of the vehicle but was not successful.

"Police tried to restrain him but the guy was quite strong and he started fighting off the police," he told the BBC.Eyewitness Simon Howard told the channel he spotted the car ramming its way in, with a man leaning out of the window holding a petrol bomb. He said a rag inside the bottle was alight and the man was trying to throw it.

"I grabbed my daughter and I screamed to my wife: 'Run!"' he said.Lynsey McBean, 26, from Erskine, Renfrewshire, said of the jeep: " They were obviously trying to get it further inside the airport as the wheels were spinning and smoke was coming from them. "One of the men, I think it was the driver, brought out a plastic petrol canister and poured it under the car."He then set light to it. At that point a policeman came over, the passenger got out of the car and punched him."

Taxi driver Ian Crosby, was in no doubt that it was a terrorist attack. He told the BBC he saw a small explosion which looked like it was coming from the back of the vehicle. "There was smoke coming from inside of the back seats," he said. "Immediately I realised this was a terrorist attack."

He praised the bravery of those who tried to apprehend the men in the car, "putting their lives at risk".

One witness said bottles of petrol were shaken on the vehicle. "It looked like Molotov cocktails," he told the BBC.

Another man said he saw one of the men throw a can of petrol over himself and the vehicle. Eye witness James Edgar said an ordinary car fire burns itself out quickly, "but this went on and on".

He told Sky News: "There were a few pops, obviously the fuel tanks would have gone, but it was as if there was maybe more accelerant in the vehicle."

Referred to a picture of the blazing jeep, he said: "He's trying to get through the main door frame, but the bollards have stopped him from going through. If he'd got through, he'd have killed hundreds, obviously."

BAA spokesman Donald Morrison told the BBC that 35,000 passengers were expected through the airport during the course of today, the first full day of the school holidays.

Asked if the incident was being treated as an attack on the airport, he said: "Obviously that is a matter for the police".

Glasgow Airport is the busiest of Scotland's international airports.Passenger numbers there have grown by 60% over the last decade, with approximately 8.8 million passengers a year travelling through it.An average of 265 aircraft fly in and out of there every day, amounting to 96,939 flights every year.

More than 40 airlines fly from Glasgow to around 90 destinations.A Home Office spokesman said that the official security alert level remains at "severe", as it has been for some time.

Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith described the incident at Glasgow airport as "serious".

Labour's shadow justice minister in Scotland, Margaret Curran, said: " This is obviously a very serious incident that alerts us all to the threat to our safety and security."

Former Home Secretary Michael Howard told the BBC it was a time to unite. "We have been very, very lucky so far and I hope and pray that luck continues," he said.

Staff and guests at the Holiday Inn, the closest hotel to Glasgow Airport, were evacuated following the incident. It is now being used as a police incident centre, a spokeswoman for the hotel chain said.Those evacuated were taken to Holiday Inn's Express hotel in the city centre.

Carlo Rosatti, 36, an engineering manager from Italy has been working at Glasgow Airport for the last 10 days. He was on the seventh floor of the Holiday Inn next to the main terminal when he heard the car explode.

"I heard the bang and I just looked down and I saw the car on fire and the entrance to the terminal on fire," he said. "I thought it was something related to what happened in London. That was the first thing on my mind."

He immediately phoned relatives in Italy to tell them he was all right, fearing they may see a report in the media. He said: "When I saw the car I immediately thought it was a terrorist attack. Then other people started to say it might have been a car that had lost control. In my opinion I thought it would be strange for a car that lost control to get all the way to the terminal."

Within five minutes the fire brigade arrived Mr Rosatti said, and began to put the blaze out. The blaze was obviously strong, he said, and it was " not easy" for the fire service to get it under control.He said: "I did not know that Glasgow was considered an important city. But I have been working here for 10 days and the airport is crowded all the time. There are always a lot of people."