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Reuters
Reuters
Politics

A picture and its story: Fire-bombing of a seaside English migrant centre

A man throws an object out of a car window next to the Border Force centre after a firebomb attack in Dover, Britain, October 30, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

"I heard this bang and I thought it was a bird scarer," Reuters photographer Peter Nicholls recalls, describing the moment a man fire-bombed the gates of a centre for processing migrants in the English port of Dover and then took his own life.

It was a dreary day in the south coast town and Nicholls was taking pictures to illustrate a story on tension between Britain and France over who should handle thousands of migrants who make the dangerous trip over the English Channel each year.

Nicholls was driving away from the centre when he heard the bang. He turned his car around and saw the outer gates of the facility on fire and Border Force staff retreating as fireworks went off outside.

A fire burns next to the Border Force centre after a firebomb attack in Dover, Britain, October 30, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

He saw a man in a checked shirt sliding plastic canisters of flammable liquid, attached to lit fireworks, along the ground towards the facility.

"He was running around with his arms in the air and shouting," said Nicholls, unsure at first whether a strange practical joke was underway.

Reuters could not confirm the identity of the attacker nor any motive.

Immigration and police officers stand next to a car believed to have been used in a petrol bomb attack on the Border Force processing centre in Dover, Britain, October 30, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

Local police said in a statement that they had identified the individual and had found "two to three" incendiary devices thrown from outside the premises by a single suspect. Two minor injuries were reported.

The Dover facility is the first stop for many of those who arrive by boat from France, before they are sent to other accommodation while their claims to stay are reviewed.

Britain wants France to deter these journeys, while human rights campaigners say asylum seekers face inhumane conditions in British detention centres.

Police cover a car with a tarpaulin which was believed to have been used in an attack on the Border Force centre in Dover, Britain, October 30, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

At least one of the devices failed to catch fire. In a final attempt, the attacker boarded a white SEAT sports utility vehicle and threw what appeared to be another improvised explosive device from the car window at the facility, which Nicholls photographed.

The man sped away, driving the wrong way down the road, Nicholls said. Military personnel appeared shortly thereafter to extinguish the fire.

Seconds later, Nicholls heard two more bangs and saw smoke coming from a nearby petrol station.

A man throws an object out of a car window next to the Border Force centre after a firebomb attack in Dover, Britain, October 30, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

He drove around the corner and found the attacker there, dead in his car.

The man's head was visible, poking out of the opened rear window behind the driver's seat. One end of an orange strap had been tied around his neck and was pulled taut, the other anchored to a metal pole.

The police arrived on the scene at the same time and later covered the car and body with a tarpaulin. Hours later they confirmed the death.

Members of the military and UK Border Force extinguish a fire from a petrol bomb, targeting the Border Force centre in Dover, Britain, October 30, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

"From calm, to chaos, to the completion with his death - it was less than five minutes," Nicholls said.

(Writing by Andy Bruce; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

Members of the military and UK Border Force extinguish a fire from a petrol bomb, targeting the Border Force centre in Dover, Britain, October 30, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls
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