Bombing in London

The terrorist attacked London today just as soon as London was declared the venue for the 2012 Olympic host.
This is a report from Guardian

A series of explosions ripped through London’s transport system today as suspected terrorist attacks on tube trains and a bus plunged the capital into chaos.

At least two people are known to have been killed, and hundreds of wounded are being treated in London hospitals.

Officials shut down the whole of the London Underground system and the Docklands Light Railway, and also cancelled all central London bus services as they tried to comprehend the scale of the disaster.
The prime minister, Tony Blair, said it was “reasonably clear” that the blasts were the work of terrorists, and added that it was “particularly barbaric” that attacks had been timed to coincide with the start of the G8 summit. He said he would leave Gleneagles, in Scotland, to return to London.

With the leaders of the G8 nations lined up behind him, Mr Blair said: “We condemn utterly these barbaric attacks.

“All of our countries have suffered from terrorism …we are united in our resolve to confront and defeat this terrorism that is not an attack on one nation but on all nations and on civilised society everywhere,” he said.

He insisted the G8 leaders would continue their discussions and would not allow the terrorists to halt a summit aimed at helping the world’s poorest people.

The home secretary, Charles Clarke, confirmed that there had been four blasts: one on a tube train between Aldgate and Liverpool Street, one on a train between Russell Square and King’s Cross, one on a train at Edgware Road station, and the last on a bus at Tavistock Square.
He told the Commons in an emergency statement: “The situation is developing, and I am not yet in a position to give a conclusive account of all that has happened.”

Earlier, the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, reported seven explosions. “We are concerned that this is a coordinated attack,” Sir Ian said.

The only attack visible to the general public was that on the double-decker bus. A bomb ripped the bus apart at Tavistock Square, near Russell Square, leaving its seats exposed and the roof blown away.
Union officials said they had received reports of two more bus explosions, but police did not confirm those reports.
Coordinated attacks across London

The police and government did not say who had carried out the attacks.

However, BBC Monitoring said it had found a website carrying a brief statement in which an al-Qaida-related organisation claimed responsibility for today’s blasts.

Police said two people had been killed in the explosion at Aldgate, and an unknown number had died at Edgware Road.

A policeman at the scene of the bus explosion at Tavistock Square said people had been killed there, and the ambulance service spoke of “a number” of fatalities.

Sir Ian said there had been many casualties, but would not give estimates of the numbers of people involved. He said the most seriously injured were currently being operated on.

Both Sir Ian and Mr Clarke urged people to stay at home until further notice, telling them not go into central London. People currently working in the centre of the capital are being advised to stay where they are.

“We are gradually bringing order to the city. Just stay where you are for the time being until the situation clears,” he said.

Hospitals deal with horrific injuries

Julian Nettle, of St Mary’s hospital, said the hospital was dealing with four people with critical injuries, including the loss of limbs, and eight people with serious injuries including head wounds.

He said a further 14 people were being treated for more minor injuries including temporary hearing loss, which he said appeared to have been caused by involvement in an explosion.

The Royal London hospital said it had treated 95 people, including seven with critical injuries.

Laura Matthews, a press officer at Universities UK, which has offices in Tavistock Square, said she had seen bodies lying around the bus explosion, some of them without arms or legs. “Get people down here quickly,” she sobbed. She thought a bomb had gone off and was trying to evacuate her office.

“We believe there have been a number of fatalities and a number of people who are seriously injured,” a policeman at the scene said.
Union officials said sources had told them there had been at least one explosive device on the Underground. British Transport police initially said power surges had caused explosions across the network.

The blasts began just before 9am, as commuters made their way to work.

Emergency services attended to wounded passengers outside Aldgate station, and there were reports of passengers covered in soot emerging from King’s Cross. Commuters came out of tunnels covered in blood.

A passenger on the train that exploded at Edgware Road said he had seen several bodies in the wreckage, the Press Association reported.
A Scotland Yard source said the force would be setting up a casualty bureau with a telephone number for people to call if they were worried about loved ones.

Downing Street emergencies committee meets Mr Clarke said the public would be kept updated on the situation. He confirmed there had been “terrible injuries” in the explosions across the capital.

Speaking outside 10 Downing Street soon after the blasts, he said the Cobra civil emergencies committee of senior ministers had met.

The police had taken “operational command” of the situation, he added.
“Health services are in support to deal with the terrible injuries that there have been, and I want to express sympathy on behalf of the whole government,” he said.

‘There were loads of people screaming’

Eyewitness Belinda Seabrook said she saw the explosion rip though the double-decker bus as it approached Tavistock Square, between Euston and Russell Square stations.

“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,” she said.

Simon Corvett, 26, from Oxford, was on the eastbound train leaving Edgware Road tube station when an explosion happened.

“All of sudden there was this huge bang. It was absolutely deafening and all the windows shattered. The glass did not actually fall out of the windows, it just cracked. The train came to a grinding halt and everyone fell off their seats,” he said.

Mr Corvett, who works in public relations, said the commuter train was absolutely packed. “There were just loads of people screaming and the carriages filled with smoke.

“You couldn’t really breathe and you couldn’t see what was happening. The driver came on the Tannoy and said ‘We have got a problem, don’t panic’,” he said.

Mr Corvett, whose face was covered in soot, joined other passengers to force open the train doors with a fire extinguisher. He said the carriage on the other track was destroyed. “You could see the carriage opposite was completely gutted. There were some people in real trouble.”

Eyewitnesses reported “multiple casualties” at Liverpool Street. A spokesman for the Airport Express Alliance, which operates the Heathrow Express, Gatwick Express and Stansted Express train services said: “They are operating on injured people on the concourse at Liverpool Street station.”

One witness who had been in a train at the time of the explosions reported seeing “bodies everywhere” in the carriages and limbs lying on the floor. Emergency services reported several injuries.

The shutdown of the London Underground system is thought to be unprecedented.

Public told to avoid London

The public were warned to stay clear of London for non-essential journeys. A Network Rail spokesman said southbound services into the capital were terminating at Watford, with no onward bus transfers.
“Some trains are being cancelled and others are getting as far as Watford,” he said. “The message we are trying to get across to passengers is don’t travel if you don’t have to.”

Mr Clarke said the Tube network would remain closed for some time, and certainly for the rest of the day.

News of the explosions caused the FTSE 100 index of leading shares to plunge by more than 200 points.

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It’s very terrifying to me when all those places were the places that i frequent in London. It is more terrifying when those places are where my uncles offices are. I hope they are okay. So far they have not contact me yet. I pray for their safety and well being….

Emergency services work near the wreckage of a bus after an explosion in Tavistock Squaure in London. Photograph: Johnathan Bainbridge/Reuters

Two people have been killed and scores injured after at least seven blasts on the underground network and a double-decker bus in London. Here passengers flood onto the streets from Kings Cross station
At Aldgate, fire crews bring the injured up from the underground network…

…as the remaining passengers are evacuated.

In Tavistock Square, eyewitness Belinda Seabrook described an explosion rip through the bus…

“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,” she said. (Photo by Mike Hughes)

At Edgware Road station a man helps an injured woman away from the scene.

Many are left dazed and shocked.

Police across London are stretched as the underground network shuts down and people search for news.

London’s Emergency Plan is put into action as medical staff rush to the scene and hospitals are on full alert.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was “reasonably clear” there had been a series of terrorist attacks. He said it was “particularly barbaric” that it was timed to coincide with the G8 summit. He is returning to London.

This photo by Adam Stacey is available on the internet and claims to show people trapped on the underground system.

Alexander Chadwick sent us this picture of passengers leaving an underground train in a tunnel near Kings Cross.NOTE: ALL THE PHOTOS ARE TAKEN FROM GUARDIAN AND BBC