A rchive Date
[ 07-07-2005 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Britain ]
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[http://www.torontosun.com/News/World/2005/07/07/1121066.html
Terrorists Strike London
Rush hour explosions target subway, bus
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Thu, July 7, 2005
LONDON (AP) - Half a dozen explosions rocked the London subway and tore open a packed double-decker bus during the morning rush hour Thursday, police said. The blasts killed at least two people and injured scores in what a shaken Prime Minister Tony Blair said was a series of "barbaric" terrorist attacks.
Blair said it's clear the attacks were designed to coincide with the opening of the G8 summit. The prime minister said he would leave the summit and travel to London.
The subway system was shut down and bus service was halted.
Police have found indications of explosives at the scene of one of the blasts and there are concerns that it was a co-ordinated attack, London's police chief said.
"We are concerned that this is a co-ordinated attack. We are aware that one of the sites does . . . contain indications of explosives," Sir Ian Blair said on Sky News.
Blair said there had been no warning.
"We have been at a very high state of alert. Of course if there had been any kind of specific warnings we would have dealt with it," he said.
"We are not aware of any warning at the moment."
The near simultaneous explosions in the subway system and on buses came a day after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics and as the G8 summit was getting underway in Scotland. Initial reports blamed a power surge, but officials were not ruling out an intentional attack.
"There have been a number of dreadful incidents across London today," said Home Secretary Charles Clarke, Britain's top law enforcement officer. He said there were "terrible injuries."
There were reports of dozens injured.
One witness, Darren Hall, said some passengers emerging from an evacuated subway station had soot and blood on their faces. He told BBC TV that he was evacuated along with others near the major King's Cross station and only afterward heard a blast.
Sky News showed a picture of a mangled red bus; police said they suspected a bomb caused the explosion.
Police confirmed an explosion destroyed a double-decker bus at Russell Square in central London, and Dow Jones Newswires reported police reporting explosions on at least two others buses.
A witness at the Russell Square blast said the entire top deck of that bus was destroyed.
"I was on the bus in front and heard an incredible bang, I turned round and half the double decker bus was in the air," Belinda Seabrook told Press Association, the British news agency.
She said the bus was packed with people.
"It was a massive explosion and there were papers and half a bus flying through the air," she said.
There was no immediate official comment from British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was hosting the world's most powerful leaders at Gleneagles, Scotland. It was not clear if the G8 gathering focusing on climate change and aid for Africa - but from which Iraq has largely been left off the agenda - would have to be postponed.
Police said incidents were reported at the Aldgate station near the Liverpool Street railway terminal, Edgware Road and King's Cross in north London, Old Street in the financial district and Russell Square in central London, near the British Museum.
London Ambulance Service said several vehicles had been dispatched to the area near Liverpool Street station.
"We believe there was some sort of explosion. There are some walking wounded at Aldgate," said a spokesman for City of London police, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"We are not sure of the scale of the incident. Reports are still coming in."
Bradley Anderson, a subway passenger, told Sky News that "there was some kind of explosion or something" as his train reached the Edgware Road station in northeast London.
"Everything went black and we collided into some kind of oncoming train," Anderson said.
Simon Corvett, 26, who was on an eastbound train from Edgware Road station, said: "All of sudden there was this massive huge bang."
"It was absolutely deafening and all the windows shattered," he said. "There were just loads of people screaming and the carriages filled with smoke.
"You could see the carriage opposite was completely gutted," he said. "There were some people in real trouble." Copyright © 2005, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved.
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