Soldiers on the platform
The Ambroos Station bombing was a bomb attack by Barzona Libre on Ambroos Station in Koningstad on 16 April 1977. This was their worst attack up to that point, even more notorious due to the death of popular actor James Gunn following the attack.
Background[]
From 1976 up, Barzona Libre heavily ramped up their attacks, especially on policemen. In 1977, they had already bombed a café in Brezonde in which three people were injured.
The attack[]
Stolen Exo 3 explosives were placed in three suitcases, which were then taken to the station and placed on one of the platforms. As the police was on the lookout for suspicious activity and objects, the man carrying the bags bought a ticket and waited with them until the last minute.
At 17:14 in the afternoon, the bombs went off, blowing a large hole in the platform and smashing glass on a waiting train nearby. The blast and the platform collapse led to fifteen people being wounded, including four police officers. They were all taken to the Royal Koningstad Hospital. James Gunn, an actor, received several fragments to the chest area and died the night of 16 April, as they were being removed.
Aftermath[]
Much of the capital was shut down as the National Police and Royal Guard were out in numbers. Fear and panic spread, though no other attacks occurred for quite some time.
Barzona Libre took responsibility for the bombing and gave an apology for Gunn's death, though not for the attack itself. In the following days, there was a significant outburst of condemnation at BL. The bombing was responsible for them losing much of their support.
For Prime Minister Pieter Stenman, the attack lost him some political support leading up to elections that year; though the attack was out of his control and he had police deployed in the city, many felt he did not enough.
Libertan criminal Harry Van Vliet is also interrogated in Libertas because he was seen delivering weapons in The Port a couple of months earlier. He would later help Barzona Libre members with a kidnapping of Nicholas Niehorster in 1980.