Explosion that killed 2 in U.K. is not considered a suspected terror incident, police say

After an explosion killed two people in southwestern England early Sunday, British police said the incident would not be investigated as suspected terrorism, seeking to dispel concerns tied to a recent update to their country’s national terrorism threat level.

“Given the recent change to the U.K. threat level, we would like to reassure the public from the outset we are not treating this as a suspected terrorist incident,” police said in a statement. Government officials had adjusted the threat level to “severe,” up from “substantial,” last week.

The explosion happened at around 6:30 a.m. local time at a residential property in the city of Bristol, according to police. Two adults died as a result, and the cause is being treated as suspicious, they said. A “major incident” was declared, meaning multiple emergency services agencies were involved in the response.

Law enforcement is not searching for anyone else in connection with the incident, police said. They are, however, investigating a different property in a nearby neighborhood with ties to the situation. No details were provided about the potential relationship between that second property and the first.

Police said they have cordoned off an area around the site of the explosion “as a precaution to help keep the public safe.” People living within that area have been temporarily evacuated, although police do not believe the blast caused significant damage to other properties.

The explosion took place as authorities around the United Kingdom grapple with persistent acts of violence, including a spate of antisemitic attacks. 

On Thursday, the U.K. raised its national terrorism threat level from “substantial” to “severe,” in the wake of a stabbing that wounded two Jewish men in London earlier in the week and was formally declared a terror incident. Government officials referenced growing threats of Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorism in the U.K. when they announced the change.