POLICE could send messages to people's mobiles phones within 30 seconds of an explosion in Manchester city centre.
It is part of a system set up to evacuate the area quickly in the event of major incidents -- such as bombs, gas and chemical leaks, fires and floods.
Messages would also be sent to personal computers and pagers under the Manchester Alert Scheme.
In 1996, a large part of the city centre near the Arndale shopping centre was destroyed by an IRA bomb.
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