During morning rush hour, 6 nearly simultaneous large bomb blasts rocked London. (This number has since been downgraded to 3 blasts, then 4, then 3 again.) There are two (as of 12:51 GMT, twelve) confirmed fatalities, and a government official noted there are probably closer to 20 dead, with at least 160 injuries, and that number is expected to go up.Initial reports indicated the blasts were a result of a power surge, but the power company quickly laid that government-sponsored rumor to rest.
During morning rush hour, 6 nearly simultaneous large bomb blasts rocked London. (This number has since been downgraded to 3 blasts, then 4, then 3 again.) There are two (as of 12:51 GMT, twelve) confirmed fatalities, and a government official noted there are probably closer to 20 dead, with at least 160 injuries, and that number is expected to go up.Initial reports indicated the blasts were a result of a power surge, but the power company quickly laid that government-sponsored rumor to rest.
Six explosions occured in the packed underground rail system. As police and emergency personnel evacuated the Tube, another explosion ripped open a double-decker bus filled with evacuees from the subway.
US security alerts stand at yellow, with New York at orange. Bomb-sniffing dogs are going through the DC Metro system. Tony Blair spoke live at 11 AM Greenwich time, says it is “reasonably clear” that these are terrorist attacks:
“It’s reasonably clear that there have been a series of terrorist attacks in London. There are obviously casualties, both people that have died and people seriously injured. Our thoughts and prayers, of course, are with the victims and their families. It’s, uh, my intention to leave the G8 within the next couple of hours and go down to London and get a report face-to-face with the police and the emergency services and the ministers that have been dealing with this, and then to return later this evening.
It is the will of all the leaders at the G8, however, that the meeting should continue in my absence, that we should continue to discuss the issues that we were going to discuss, and reach the conclusions which we were going to reach. Each of the countries around that table has some experience of the effects of terrorism, and all of the leaders, as they will indicate a little bit later, share our complete resolution to defeat this terrorism.
It’s particularly barbaric that this has happeed on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa, and the long-term problems of climate change in the environment. Just as it is reasonably clear that this is a terrorist attack or a series of terrorist attacks, it’s also reasonably clear that it is designed and aimed to coincide with the opening of the G8.
There will be time to talk later about this. It’s important, however, that those engaged in terrorism realize that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire to impose extremism on the world.
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.
Busses and trains all around London are closed.
Christopher Dickey, Newsweek Magazine Paris Bureau Chief, said on the radio that “obviously, the modus operandi points to some Al-Qaeda-type group … There’s a third possibility… Abu-Massad Al Zarqawi … even before the invasion of Iraq, was setting up networks throughout Europe … if there’s a link there, the implications … are very profound indeed.”
Eyewitness accounts indicate loud explosions, heavy smoke, complete loss of power through large sections of the rail network and downtown London.
The phone system and mobile phone networks are down. There is a rumor of a reputed suicide bomber on the bus which exploded. Rumors of suspected suicide bomber shot dead by security forces in Canary Wharf.
The G8 summit (a meeting of the top 8 industrialized nations in the world) in Scotland was apparently derailed as Tony Blair returned to London.
Many passengers are still trapped underground, with rescue efforts underway.
Explosions confirmed at Edgware Road, Russell Square, Kings Cross, Liverpool Street, Moorgate underground station, Aldgate underground station, and a double-decker bus downtown.
There was a possible 8th explosion at Brighton.
A previously unknown group, “The Secret Organization group of al-Qaeda of Jihad in Europe”, has claimed responsibility for the bombings. However, their claim is disputed.
Coverage on CNN.com and elsewhere.