London rocked by terror attacks

Two people have been killed and scores have been injured after three blasts on the Underground network and another on a double-decker bus in London. 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.

An Islamist website has posted a statement - purportedly from al-Qaeda - claiming it was behind the attacks.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke said blasts occurred between Aldgate East and Liverpool Street tube stations; between Russell Square and King's Cross tube stations; at Edgware Road tube station; and on bus at Tavistock Square.

The Queen said she was "deeply shocked" by the terrorist attacks and sent her sympathy to those affected.

London's police chief Sir Ian Blair said there had been "many casualties" but it was too early to put a figure to those killed or injured.

It's particularly barbaric that this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty and Africa
Tony Blair

More than 182 casualties and one of the dead were taken to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel but that 123 people had since been released.

And St Mary's Hospital said it was dealing with 26 injured people, including four with critical injuries and eight in a serious condition.

Sir Ian urged people to stay where they were and not to call emergency services unless it was a life-threatening situation.

He reassured the public that an emergency plan was in place and the situation was "steadily coming under control".

London Mayor Ken Livingstone, speaking from Singapore before flying back to the UK, said Londoners would not be divided by a "cowardly attack."

He said it was an "indiscriminate" attempt at slaughter with no consideration for age or religion.

Blasts occurred:
Between Aldgate East and Liverpool Street tube stations
Between Russell Square and King's Cross tube stations
At Edgware Road tube station
On bus at Tavistock Square

All London Underground services have been suspended indefinitely and bus services in central London (Zone One) have been halted.

Early reports had suggested a power surge could be to blame for explosions on the Underground but this was later discounted.

Describing the bus blast in Tavistock Square, eyewitness Belinda Seabrook said she saw 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.

She said the bus was travelling from Euston to Russell Square and had been "packed" with people turned away from Tube stops.

There was immediately smoke everywhere and it was hot and everybody panicked. People started screaming and crying
Jacqui Head
BBC News

"It was a massive explosion and there were papers and half a bus flying through the air, I think it was the number 205," she said.

"There must be a lot of people dead as all the buses were packed, they had been turning people away from the Tube stops."

One caller to BBC Five said his friend had seen "the bus ripped open like a can of sardines and bodies everywhere".

Loyita Worley, who works for a City law firm, said she was on the underground train when an explosion took place in the next carriage, while it was in a tunnel.

The 49-year-old said: "All the lights went out and the train came to an immediate halt. There was smoke everywhere and everyone was coughing and choking, but remained calm. We couldn't open the doors."

Once the doors were opened they were taken along to Liverpool Street station.

She said the carriage where an explosion happened was "black on the inside" and she saw people who appeared to have their clothes blown off.

She saw bodies lying inside the carriage.

The Blog has a correspondant in London...Londoner, are you there? Care to submit a report from the scene?

From the London Times website, the start of an article on what the city is like today:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...684522,00.html

After the bombs: clogged streets, survivors walking home
By Sam Knight, Times Online
With the stations empty and buses rushing past empty or loaded with the wounded, London's streets are clogged with traffic leaving the city, but eerily quiet close to the scenes of this morning's explosions.



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Kind of reminiscent of NYC on 9/11.

It's a terrible, terrible tradgedy. I was surprised there was no response from our Homeland security, where is the elevated terror alert for the US. I didn't take SEPTA this morning as I was a little bit nervous and opted for a cab instead. Now that Live 8 has been held in the States, we might become a bigger target.

This is such a tragedy..

The people at http://london.metblogs.com are also reacting to it all in a pretty up to date manner.

__________________
PoliticsPhilly.com - Your Guide to Philadelphia Politics.

Temple kids, we're just smarter.

This is one of the reasons I'm a bit leery about Philadelphia getting a higher profile lately. It seems it's safer to be less prominent.

NY times is reporting that up to 1,000 people were injured.

Here's a BBC map of the explosion times and locations:

Marko,

When you copy an article, could you please put a link to it in your post? It's helpful to know where it comes from.

Thanks.

Damn them. Damn all terrorist and people who side with them to eternal punishment in hell.

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/07/07/us.response/



(CNN) -- Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced Thursday that the U.S. government was raising the terror alert level to orange, or high, but only for mass transit systems, including "regional and inner city passenger rail, subways and metropolitan bus systems."

He said that there was no specific or credible information indicating that attacks were planned in the United States but that it was prudent to take precautions.

Authorities across the United States had already increased security on subways, trains and other potential targets, after the bombings that killed dozens of people in London.

Four explosions in London's transport system killed more than 30 people and wounded dozens more in what Prime Minister Tony Blair said was an apparent terrorist attack. Blair was in Scotland to host the G8 summit, but he returned to London for a "face-to-face report" on the attacks. (Full story)

President Bush, who is in Scotland for the meetings, condemned the attacks in a statement and said he had talked to U.S. authorities.

"I've been in contact with our homeland security and I instructed them to be in touch with local and state officials about the facts of what took place here in London and to be extra vigilant as our folks start heading to work," the statement said.

Earlier, Chertoff announced that his department had activated the Interagency Incident Management Groupto monitor and coordinate the activities of the federal government and make recommendations to senior government officials.

The group consists of roughly 30 people from all departments and agencies. The officials also have the authority to draw on their agencies' resources.

In Washington, Capitol Hill police Thursday announced plans to search buses, tour vans and larger vehicles traveling on the roads leading to the Capitol.

Police have also increased their security patrols around the area, spokesman Michael Lauer said. Visitors will be subject to a "cursory visual inspection," and bags and backpacks could be searched if it is "deemed appropriate."

Congress is out of session for the Independence Day break. The House and Senate are scheduled to convene again next week.

Security also was tightened around the Pentagon, where sniper teams were deployed outside the building along with heavily armed police, bomb-sniffing dogs and other protective measures.

The Amtrak train system announced that as a precaution, it was deploying more officers and canine teams, as well as asking the railroad's employees to continue to be vigilant and on alert for suspicious activity.

Mass transit security

Major cities across the country have beefed up security on their mass transit systems. (Full story)

Washington Metro Transit police have deployed special response teams, armed with machine guns, and bomb-sniffing dogs to patrol subway stations, trains and buses, according to a statement from Metro Transit Police.

Metrorail station restrooms also have been temporarily closed for security reasons.

The New York Police Department put thousands of extra police on the streets Thursday by having officers on the overnight shift stay on duty and by assigning the narcotics division and the organized crime unit to provide security around the transit system.

The NYPD also adjusted its staging exercises, which normally focus on the city's financial district, to focus on the transit system and had heavily armed officers checking every subway car on every train