Four Terrorist Blasts, Rocks London!

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Four Terrorist Blasts, Rocks London!

Al Qaeda Claimed Affilate, Blasts London!
4 Explosions Blasts London

Four London Blasts Kill 40, Injure 300
By JANE WARDELL, Associated Press Writer 7 minutes ago



Injured subway passenger is escorted away from Edgware Road Tube Station in London following an explosion Thursday.


explosions rocked at least five London subway stations and ripped apart a double-decker bus at the morning rush hour Thursday, police said, causing at least two deaths, reportedly injuring at least 95 people and sending bloodied victims fleeing from debris-strewn blast sites.


Tavistock Square, London, July 7, 2005. Four blasts ripped through London at rush hour early on Thursday, killing people, wounding 150 seriously and disrupting a meeting of Group of Eight leaders in Scotland in attacks Prime Minister Tony Blair called 'barbaric'.


LONDON - Three blasts rocked the London subway and one tore open a packed double-decker bus during the morning rush hour Thursday, sending bloodied victims fleeing after what a shaken Prime Minister Tony Blair called "barbaric" terrorist attacks. A U.S. law enforcement official said at least 40 people were killed and London hospitals reported more than 300 wounded.



British Prime Minister Tony Blair, right, speaks during a group photo of G8 and other leaders at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, Thursday July 7, 2005. Explosions on London's transport system killed a number of people and caused chaos in the British capital at rush hour on Thursday morning. Blair will return to London


Blair said the "terrorist attacks" were clearly designed to coincide with the opening of the G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland. They also came a day after London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics.

The explosions hit three subway stations and a double-decker bus in rapid succession between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m. Implementing an emergency plan, authorities immediately shut down the subway and bus lines that log 8.4 million passenger trips every weekday. It brought the city's transportation system to a standstill and left many central London streets deserted.

"It was chaos," said Gary Lewis, 32, who was evacuated from a subway train at King's Cross station. "The one haunting image was someone whose face was totally black and pouring with blood."

Blair, flanked by fellow G-8 leaders, including President Bush, said: "We shall prevail and they shall not."

Earlier, a shaken Blair said, "Whatever they do, it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilized nations throughout the world."

He then departed by helicopter back to London. He said the meeting of the world leaders would continue.



U.S. President George W. Bush walks to make a statement at the Gleneagles Hotel near Auchterarder, Scotland, Thursday, July 7, 2005 on the expolsions in London. Describing events as 'incredibly vivid to me,' Bush offered 'heartfelt condolences' to the victims of the blasts and their families and said he backed British Prime


President Bush later warned Americans to be "extra vigilant" as they head to work after the deadly explosions in London. He said he had conferred with federal homeland security officials back in Washington.

A group calling itself "The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe" posted a claim of responsibility for the blasts, saying they were in retaliation for Britain's involvement in Iraq

The statement, which also threatened attacks in Italy and Denmark, was published on a Web site popular with Islamic militants, according to Elaph, a secular Arabic-language news Web site, and Der Spiegel magazine in Berlin, which published the text on their Web sites.

European stocks dropped sharply after the blasts, with exchanges in London, Paris and Germany all down about 2 percent. Insurance and travel-related stocks were hit hard, and the British pound also fell. Gold, traditionally seen as a safe haven, rose.

The U.S. official spoke on condition of anonymity because British officials have yet to make public the death toll. U.S. authorities learned of the number from their British counterparts, according to the official.

Officials at seven major hospitals surveyed by The Associated Press reported that 334 people had been wounded, including more than 120 who were treated and released.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone said the blasts that ripped through his city were "mass murder" carried out by terrorists bent on "indiscriminate ... slaughter."

"This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty or the powerful ... it was aimed at ordinary working-class Londoners," said Livingstone, in Singapore where he supported London's Olympic bid. Giselle Davies, an International Olympic Committee spokeswoman, said the committee still had "full confidence" in London.

Jay Kumar, a business owner near the site of the blast that destroyed a double-decker bus at Russell Square in central London, said he ran out of his shop when he heard a loud explosion. He said the top deck of the bus had collapsed, sending people tumbling to the floor.

Many appeared badly injured, and bloodied people ran from the scene.

"A big blast, a big bomb," he told The Associated Press. "People were running this way panicked. They knew it was a bomb. Debris flying all over, mostly glass."

"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.

Traces of explosives were found at two explosion sites, a senior police official said. Britain's Home Secretary Charles Clarke said there were three explosions in the subway and one on a bus.

Police confirmed fatalities but had not confirmed any numbers by early afternoon.

Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI deplored the "terrorist attacks," calling them "barbaric acts against humanity," and said he was praying for the families of the victims. Sir Ian Blair, London's police chief, said he was concerned the explosions were a coordinated attack but said he wouldn't speculate on who was responsible. He said officials had found indications of explosives at one of the sites.

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, near the British Museum.

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."

London's cell phone network was working after the explosions but was overloaded and spotty, limiting communication.

On March 11, 2004, terrorist bombs on four commuter trains in Madrid killed 191 people.

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Blasts rock London, Blair breaks off G8 meeting
By Trevor Datson and Mike Collett-White 22 minutes ago

LONDON (Reuters) - Four blasts ripped through London at rush hour early on Thursday, killing people, wounding 150 seriously and disrupting a meeting of Group of Eight leaders in Scotland in attacks Prime Minister Tony Blair called "barbaric."

Witnesses saw the top ripped off a double-decker bus near Russell Square close to King's Cross train terminal, and packed subway trains were hit in three more apparently coordinated blasts.

"I was on the bus," said one dazed passenger. "I looked round and the seats behind me were gone."

"You could see bodies on the road outside. There was smoke everywhere. It was carnage," said eyewitness Peter Gordon.

British interior minister Charles Clarke called the explosions "terrorist attacks," and President Bush

President Bush, speaking at the G8 summit, told reporters that "the war on terror goes on."

"We will not yield to these terrorists, we will find them, we will bring them to justice."

A previously unknown group, "Secret Group of al Qaeda's Jihad in Europe," claimed responsibility for the attacks.

In the confusion, the human toll of the blasts was unclear, with reports suggesting that dozens of people may have been killed. CNN reported that at least 10 people were confirmed dead at King's Cross station.

Police have so far declined to give a death toll or comment on suggestions that suicide bombers were involved.

Financial markets tumbled as the scale of the attacks became clear and Blair told reporters he would return to London from the G8 summit to oversee the emergency. He planned to return to the talks in Gleneagles later in the day.

The attacks recalled the 2004 train bombings in Madrid blamed on al Qaeda and left the city's residents in shock. The Islamic Human Rights Commission warned London Muslims to stay at home to avoid any violence aimed at them.

The attacks came a day after a jubilant London was awarded the 2012 Olympic Games.

"I'm deeply saddened that this should happen at the heart of an Olympic city. Unfortunately there is no safe haven. No one can say their city is safe," said International Olympic 30 Committee president Jacques Rogge in Singapore.

Italy's interior minister said all Europe was on alert.

Britain has been key ally of the United States in its war in Iraq, where al Qaeda is waging a bloody insurgency. The blasts occurred one day after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics.

DEAD AND WOUNDED

Police said two people were killed at Aldgate East underground station in the financial center of the city, with a further 90 people wounded. Around 100 wounded people were taken to Royal London Hospital, 10 of them in critical condition.

London's police chief Ian Blair said there were indications of explosives at the blast sites.

"We are concerned that this is a co-ordinated attack," he told Sky television.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone, speaking in Singapore, said suicide bombers may have been involved.

"I wish to speak to you directly -- to those who came to London today to take lives," he said. "I know that you personally do not fear to give your own life in exchange for taking others, which is why you are so dangerous."

People were seen streaming out of one underground station covered with blood and soot. Passengers were evacuated from stations across the capital, many in shock and with their clothes ripped to shreds, witnesses said.

The city's streets rapidly emptied and financial markets plummeted as it became increasingly apparent that the blasts were an attack, and not a power surge on the underground train system as had first been reported.

Security experts said the blasts bore all the hallmarks of al Qaeda.

"If what we are looking at is a simultaneous bombing, and it does look like that, it would very certainly fit the classic al Qaeda methodology which centers precisely on that: multi-seated hits on transport and infrastructural targets," said Shane Brighton, intelligence expert at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense.

On the currency market, the safe-haven Swiss franc hit a six-week high against sterling and rose more than 1 percent against the dollar following the explosions.

"The market is showing a textbook reaction, buying safe-haven currencies like the Swiss franc and euro and away from the dollar," said Marios Maratheftis, currency strategist at Standard Chartered.

Oil prices initially fell three percent before recovering and London's FTSE stock exchange lost two percent.

(Additional reporting by London bureau)

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Photos of the London Blasts
by AP, Sky, AFP


The wreckage of a bus with its seats open to the elements and its roof blown off after an explosion in Eversholt Street, London, Thursday, July 7, 2005. Near simultaneous explosions rocked the London subway and a double-decker bus at the morning rush hour Thursday


A police officer stands guard at the entrance to Eversholt Street, London, Thursday, July 7, 2005, while behind him is seen the top deck of a bus with its seats open to the elements and its roof was blown off in an explosion.


A police officer puts up tape closing access to the area near AldgateTube Station, London, Thursday, July 7, 2005. Near simultaneous explosions rocked the London subway and a double-decker bus at the morning rush hour Thursday


A police officer walks from a bus that was destroyed by a bomb in London July 7, 2005. The US Department of Homeland Security said it did not plan to raise the nation's terrorism threat level after a series of blasts targeting London's public transit system.


Workers in London's financial district receive directions from police after their buildings were evacuated after a series of explosions occurred throughout London, July 7, 2005.


An injured women at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, where the wounded are being brought from the Aldgate tube station, Thursday July 7, 2005. Three explosions rocked the London subway and one tore open a packed double-decker bus during the morning rush hour Thursday.


people wounded in the blast at Russell Square on July 7, 2005 in London


Injured tube passengers are escorted away from Edgware Road Tube Station in London following an explosion, Thursday July 7, 2005.


Injured tube passengers are escorted away from Edgware Road Tube Station in London following an explosion, Thursday July 7, 2005.

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Latest Toll: 50 Dead and 700 Injured


A bomb damaged Circle Line subway train is seen stopped between Liverpool Street and Aldgate staions in London, Thursday, July 7, 2008. Police on Friday July 8, 2005, raised the death toll to more than 50 from London's terrorist bombings but said they hadn't yet been able to reach all of the dead.

LONDON (Reuters) - Rescue workers inched through dangerous rail tunnels deep under London on Friday to hunt for clues and retrieve bodies after suspected al Qaeda bombers killed more than 50 people in rush-hour blasts.

Fears of more attacks and false alarms kept commuters and financial markets jittery, while authorities worldwide went on alert following threats to countries which, like Britain, have troops in Iraq.

A day after four bombs tore through three underground trains and a double-decker bus, the capital slowly got back to work. Many people took the day off, but others ventured back onto London's creaking transport network, some fearful, many defiant.

"No one's going to stop me going where I want to go in my own city," said shop worker Stuart Mills, 27. "You know what British people are like. They'll just carry on."

London mayor Ken Livingstone said the city would soon bounce back, noting it had been a week of "triumph and tragedy" for the capital, awarded the 2012 Olympics the day before the bombings.

The attacks -- which ministers said bore the hallmarks of the Islamic militant al Qaeda network -- were London's deadliest in peacetime and disrupted a summit of the leaders of the Group of Eight (G.VIII) industrialized countries in Scotland.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair briefly left the summit to attend a crisis meeting in London on Thursday but vowed not to let the attacks derail the meeting and announced on Friday that the G8 had agreed to boost aid for developing nations.

"We offer today this contrast with the politics of terror," he said. "It is hope that is the alternative to this hatred."

"EXTRAORDINARY HORROR"

London police chief Ian Blair said more than 50 people were killed in the blasts and 700 wounded, with 22 still critical.

He said people of many nationalities and religions had been caught up in the blast, noting the wounded were from countries including Australia, China, Poland, Portugal and Sierra Leone.

He said the death toll could rise further as police had yet to recover bodies from one of the bombed underground carriages, where rescue workers were encountering conditions of "extraordinary horror."

The bomb that tore off the roof of a bus killed 13 people, he said, compared to an initial death toll of two on the bus. It was not immediately clear if the 13 were included in the toll of 50 announced earlier in the day.

Desperate people hunted for missing relatives at hospitals, while others issued appeals for information. Commuters left flowers and notes at one of the bombed stations.

"To all the families and friends of those that died and were injured here yesterday, my thoughts and prayers are with you all. From a survivor. One of the lucky ones. William," read one.

Police chief Blair said the blasts bore all the hallmarks of al Qaeda but they did not suspect suicide bombers. Investigators were examining a claim of responsibility from the "Secret Group of al Qaeda's Jihad in Europe" over the war in Iraq.

The chief said more than one person carried out the attacks and those responsible were either at large in Britain or elsewhere or were dead.

"We have made no arrests so far," he said.

At Friday prayers across the capital, Muslims mourned the dead and, condemned the bombers but expressed fears of a backlash as the Muslim Council of Britain representing the country's 1.6 million Muslims was deluged with abusive messages.

TRAPPED BODIES

The police said no survivors were trapped underground and the task now was to retrieve bodies. One police source said there could be more than 10 bodies still underground.

Spain, hit last year by train bombings linked to al Qaeda which killed 191 people died, said it had sent security experts to Britain to help with the investigation. Spain withdrew its troops from Iraq after the bombings.

Andy Hayman, of the London police specialist operations branch, spoke of the "extreme circumstances" under which rescue services were working, saying they faced the hazards of tunnel collapse, vermin and "dangerous substances" in the air.

A maintenance worker, who did not want to be identified, said he had reached the site early on Friday and described "awful" scenes, with several bodies in the carriage.

"We got up to the carriage, although it was very dark there at the time," he told Reuters. "The smell was awful."

Hayman said each of the bombs was believed to have contained up to 10 lbs (4.5 kg) of explosives and could have been carried around in backpacks. The New York Times said timing devices rather than bombers set off the bombs.

An Internet statement from a group calling itself the "Organization of al Qaeda - Jihad in the Arabian Peninsula" praised the attacks and said Rome would be targeted next.

The blasts battered financial markets on Thursday, but oil prices recovered to head back toward record highs near $62 on Friday as analysts said the attacks were expected to have a limited impact on the global economy and oil demand. British shares also recouped their losses, but sterling slid further.