Two police officers have described the moment they thwarted two suicide bombers intent on bringing death and destruction to Glasgow airport.

The officers said that the men “were resigned to death”.

PC Stewart Ferguson was off duty at the airport last Saturday and talking to Sergeant Torquil Campbell when they saw a blazing Jeep wedged into the front of the building.

One of the occupants, believed to be the passenger, who is allegedly Bilal Abdulla, attacked Mr Campbell. The officer said that he was trying to keep him away from the burning vehicle.

Who are the terror suspects?

Eight suspects have been held by anti-terror police investigating the failed car bomb attacks in Glasgow and London

Multimedia

• In Pictures: UK terror attacks

BACKGROUND

• Biting back at terror suspects

• MI5 asked to check foreign medical workers

• Search for the thread linking bomb suspects

• Mobile phones may have led police to arrests

Related Links

• Students jailed for inciting terrorism online

• Forget the cause — this is a bid for hero status

• Bomb plots ‘carried out with bin Laden’s blessing’

As Mr Campbell fought with him, Mr Ferguson grabbed a fire extinguisher and hosed down the second man, unofficially identified as Kafeel Ahmed. Mr Ahmed is in a critical condition in hospital.

Mr Ferguson, a 40-year-old father of two, said: “I remember his injuries, and to me they were the most horrific injuries I had seen on a living person. In my opinion he was resigned to death.”

Mr Campbell, 49, said: “They were just waiting for death. The fact that they were still alive perplexed them a little bit and they didn’t know what to do. It struck me when the second male came towards me on fire that this was something different, something out of the ordinary, and that this was indeed a terrorist attack. It was hard to comprehend but I just had to accept the fact that terrorism had arrived at Glasgow airport.”

Mr Campbell, also father of two, who has almost 30 years’ service, said that as he grappled with the first man, he saw the second appear out of the flames, on fire.

“I believe he had doused himself in petrol, but I never saw that. I thought, ‘What is in the vehicle?’, because at that time I could hear popping and banging coming from the vehicle.”

Mr Ferguson told Sky News that when he saw Mr Campbell being assaulted he thought that it was a road-rage incident. “But it quickly dawned on me that this was no angry motorist – this was something completely different.”

As he looked at the Jeep he saw the second man. “He was well ablaze – clothing, hair, skin – and from the attitude that he was in, lying on his back, there was a kind of resignation about him. I was free to act, so, knowing where the fire extinguishers were in the building, I grabbed one.”

Restrictions at the airport were relaxed yesterday. Some taxis and buses were allowed back into the outer forecourt. All vehicles were searched before being allowed through. New arrangements were also put in place for disabled passengers.

Times Recommends

• Oh no, Mr Darling: you have failed
• BBC survives dogfight over Kennel Club expose
• Where the Rosetta belongs can’t be set in stone