" At Least 45 Dead "

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At least 45 dead

7 July 2005

Terrorists brought carnage to London today with a series of bombs that killed and maimed people across the capital.

There were at least four co-ordinated blasts on the Tube network and a bus packed with commuters was ripped apart in what Tony Blair called a "barbaric" string of attacks.

At least 45 people were killed with 150 seriously injured. Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick said there were "many more" walking wounded.

The onslaught was unleashed on the day that G8 world leaders met at Gleneagles.

There were reports that the al Qaida terror network had claimed responsibility for the attacks, which mirrored the vicious assault on Madrid commuters in 2004 in which almost 200 people died.

The day of death and chaos prompted the Prime Minister to vow that the terrorists would never win.

"Whatever they do it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and other civilised nations in the world," he said.

Mr Blair said he would be leaving the G8 summit for London in the wake of the attacks, but the summit would go on.

Eye-witnesses reported seeing bodies piled in the wreckage of damaged Tube trains.

The double decker bus which was ripped apart by a massive blast was packed with people forced off the underground when the network was shut down

Eyewitnesses said there were many fatalities.

As the scale of the attack became clear ministers attending the regular Thursday cabinet meeting convened an emergency Cobra committee to deal with the crisis.

The terror attacks began with a series of co-ordinated blasts on the Tube network.

Emergency services rushed to rescue trapped passengers.

At Liverpool Street Station in the City, the wounded were treated by medics as they lay on the concourse.

The Hilton Metropole on the Edgware Road was used as a makeshift treatment centre.

There were fears that casualties were still in the Tube between Russell Square and King's Cross with paramedics still rushing to the scene more than two hours after the blasts.

The bus blast happened in Tavistock Square, close to Russell Square.

The exact number of blasts was not immediately clear.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We have had reports of explosions at six tube stations - at Russell Square, King's Cross, Moorgate, Aldgate, Liverpool Street and Edgware Road.

"Whether there were six separate explosions - or whether some explosions in tunnels were reported at more then one station - is not clear. We currently have operations at six different stations.

"There is also one confirmed explosion on a bus in Tavistock Square."

Mainline stations were closed and Tube and bus services were cancelled across the city.

Many workers left their offices and factories early and the city's streets, particularly those near stations, were unusually crowded with pedestrians unable to travel anywhere.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said: "We are concerned that this is a co-ordinated attack."

Sir Ian said there was evidence of explosives at least one of the explosion sites.

There was no official death toll but survivors of blasts at Edgware Road station and between Aldgate and Liverpool Street reported seeing piles of bodies.

Police at the scene of the bus blast also said several people had died.

The blasts were initially blamed on a power surge but it soon became clear that it was a co-ordinated terrorist attack on the capital.

The G8 gathering had prompted fears of a terrorist spectacular.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke said there have been "terrible injuries" from a "number of dreadful incidents" across London.

He said: "As far as the police are concerned, they are in operational command and dealing with the situation in accordance with very well-established procedures in an extremely professional way.

"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 Government to the family and friends of those who have been injured.

"Underground services have been suspended and we advise people not to make unnecessary journeys in London at this stage in order to help the police and other emergency services deal with the current situation."

He added: "Throughout all of this and the terrible situation that there is we will be updating the public very directly at regular intervals with the most up to date information that we have."

Describing the bus blast, eyewitness Belinda Seabrook said she saw an explosion rip through the bus as it approached the Square.

"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.

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

"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.

"We were about 20 metres away, that was all."

Survivors of the Tube blasts described scenes of total chaos.

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

He said: "All of sudden there was this massive 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, everyone fell off their seats."

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," he said.

"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'."

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," he added.

"There were some people in real trouble."

Sarah Reid, 23, a student doing work experience, was on the carriage next door to the one which was struck by the explosion.

Speaking after the ordeal, having been led out down the track, near Liverpool Street station, she told how she saw a carriage ripped apart with the roof blown off.

"I think some people may have died," she said.

The blast had pulled some people's clothes off.

She added: "I was on the train and there was a fire outside the carriage window and then there was a sudden jolt which shook us forward.

"The explosion was behind me.

"Some people took charge. We went out of the back of the carriage."

She said the explosion happened at 8.50am but she was not able to get off the carriage until 9.30am.

Miss Reid said an announcement came on but cut off after saying: "Hello".

"There was really hard banging from the carriage next door to us," she said, describing events immediately after the blast.

"That was where it happened," she added.

She said there was a fire which she had seen initially outside the window of her carriage.

Describing being led away from the scene, she said: "A carriage was split in two, all jagged, and without a roof, just open.

"I saw bodies, I think."

A British Transport Police (BTP) spokesman said that two trains remained stuck in tunnels at Edgware Road, but it is not known if they have collided or if passengers remain onboard.

"It's difficult to know exactly what is going on at the moment," he said.

"The initial report came from Liverpool Street, but there are incidents occurring across the network."

A man who survived the Aldgate blast told of passengers' terror when their train ground to a halt.

Arash Kazerouni, 22, said: "There was a loud bang and the train ground to a halt. People started panicking, screaming and crying as smoke came into the carriage.

"A man told everyone to be calm and we were led to safety along the track."

Mr Kazerouni, from Edmonton, North London, said: "Everyone was terrified when it happened.

"When they led us to safety, I went past the carriage where I think the explosion was. It was the second one from the front.

"The metal was all blown outwards and there were people inside being helped by paramedics.

"One guy was being tended outside on the track. His clothes were torn off and he seemed pretty badly burned."

All London hospitals were put on major incident alert after today's explosions.

The FTSE 100 Index plunged 160.4 points to 5069.2.

• Update: London grinds to halt after blasts

• Gallery: Terror attack on London

• Gallery: Devastation on London streets

• Travel advice for commuters

• Buckingham Palace sealed off

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