Jeremy Clarkson has described the attack on the Top Gear crew in Argentina as “the most terrifying thing I’ve ever been involved in”, and said the incident that forced the BBC team to leave the South American country was worse than his visits to both Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I've been to Iraq and Afghanistan, but this was the most terrifying thing I've ever been involved in,” Clarkson said.
"There were hundreds of them. They were hurling rocks and bricks at our cars.
"This is not just some kind of jolly Top Gear jape - this was deadly serious," Clarkson said.
Clarkson posted on Twitter that the many newspapers ‘have the story completely wrong’.
Clarkson and the rest of the show’s crew were in Argentina filming an episode when they were forced to abandon their cars as an angry crowd pelted them with stones, forcing them to cut short their stay in the country.
The problems originated when the registration plate of Clarkson’s car – H982 FKLY – was spotted and presumed by locals to be a reference to the 1982 Falklands war. Clarkson has denied this, saying it was a coincidence, however local officials in the Argentinian city of Ushuaia accused the British TV crew of ‘deliberate provocation’.
The presenters - Clarkson, along with Richard Hammond and James May - were forced to leave the country early, taking a plane rather than travelling by road to Chile, as had been the original plan.The executive producer of Top Gear, Andy Wilman, said: "Top Gear production purchased three cars for a forthcoming programme; to suggest that this car was either chosen for its number plate, or that an alternative number plate was substituted for the original, is completely untrue."
A BBC spokesman said: "We're pleased the team is safe and would like to thank all of those who have helped. As the executive producer has made clear, the number plate issue is a very unfortunate coincidence."
All TG crew now safely out of Argentina. I just got back to UK. Horrified to see so many newspapers have the story completely wrong.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) October 4, 2014
All TG crew now safely out of Argentina. I just got back to UK. Horrified to see so many newspapers have the story completely wrong.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) October 4, 2014
The number plate WAS a coincidence. When it was pointed out to us, we changed it. As pics in this morning's Mail show.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) October 4, 2014
They threw us out for the political capital. Thousands chased crew to border. Someone could have been killed.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) October 4, 2014
This was not a jolly jape that went awry. For once, we did nothing wrong.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) October 4, 2014
We had planned a good ending for the show. But thanks to the government's foolishness, it's now even better.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) October 4, 2014
