1999 London nail bombings
The 1999 London nail bombings were a series of bomb explosions in London, England. Over three successive weekends between 17 and 30 April 1999, homemade nail bombs were detonated in Brixton in South London; at Brick Lane, Spitalfields, in the East End; and at the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho in the West End. Each bomb contained up to 1,500 4-inch (100 mm) nails, in holdalls that were left in public spaces. The bombs killed three people and injured 140 people, four of whom lost limbs.
The 2023 act of remembrance marking the anniversary of the bombing
Andrea Dykes, four months pregnant, was killed and her husband Julian seriously injured.
A nail bomb is an anti-personnel explosive device containing nails to increase its effectiveness at harming victims. The nails act as shrapnel, leading almost certainly to more injury in inhabited areas than the explosives alone would. A nail bomb is also a type of flechette weapon. Such weapons use bits of shrapnel to create a larger radius of destruction.
An assortment of nails
Israel Defense Forces soldiers examining an explosives factory in Nablus containing various types of improvised shrapnel, 2002.