There were more explosions in London’s Tube Stations today — described by officials as “minor,” but leading to the evacuation of several tube lines in what officials called a “serious” incident.
Now, as investigators look into this and an incident involving a bus, the question is going to be: were these done by the same, well organized group that’s believed to be linked with Al Qaeda — or is it the work of some sympathizers and/or copycats? The BBC reports:
The minor explosions – just two weeks after blasts killed 56 – involved detonators only, a BBC reporter said.
In addition, a blast was reported on the top deck of a Number 26 bus in Hackney Road in Bethnal Green.
There were no injuries and the bus suffered no structural damage.
Eyewitnesses heard bangs and saw abandoned rucksacks at the sites of the incidents at Warren Street, Shepherd’s Bush Hammersmith and City line and Oval tube stations as well as the number 26 bus.
At Warren Street and Oval a man was seen running away from the scene.
Large areas around all four sites were cordoned off. Initial tests at Oval station revealed no traces of any chemical agent, police said.
Police said officers in protective clothing had been deployed to Warren Street to examine the scene.
MSNBC has a compelling report which includes this account:
Witnesses at Warren Street station described seeing a man fleeing the subway platform after a blast there.
“We all got off on the platform and the guy just ran and started running up the escalator,� one witness who gave her name as Andrea told the British Broadcasting Corp.
“Everyone was screaming for someone to stop him. He ran past me … and he ran out of the station. In fact he left a bag on the train,â€? she said of the incident at Warren Street station in central London.
Another witness told Sky News that passengers tried to prevent the man from running away, but failed.
Sky News also reported witnesses seeing a man dump a backpack in a subway car at Oval station before fleeing as the doors closed.
Four “explosion or attempts at explosions” have been reported on three London Underground stations and a bus, two weeks after the July 7 terror attacks, the city’s police chief has said.
Scotland Yard also said they were looking into an “incident” at University College London Hospital (UCL), where armed officers have been deployed. Witnesses reported policemen with flak jackets entered the hospital along with dogs….
UCL hospital is near Warren Street station, where police said one of three small devices detonated. The other blasts were reported at Oval and Shepherd’s Bush stations.
Thursday’s blasts came two weeks to the day since bombs on three Tube trains on a bus killed 52 people and four of the bombers.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said: “We know that we’ve had four explosions or attempts at explosions. It is still pretty unclear as to what’s happened. At the moment, the casualty numbers appear to be very low in the explosions.
“The bombs appear to be smaller than on the last occasion but we don’t know the implications of all this yet and we’re going to have to examine the scene very carefully.”
Blair urged Londoners to “stay where you are and go about your normal business” for the time being.
Sky News reports another incident plus an internal hospital memo warning staff be on the lookout for a suspect:
Scotland Yard have confirmed there is an incident involving armed police officers at University College Hospital in Bloomsbury close to Warren Street station.
A man was also arrested by armed police at the gates of Downing Street.
An internal memo to staff at the hospital has warned them to be on the lookout for a black male, possibly of Asian origin, about 6ft 2ins tall, wearing a blue top with wires protruding from the rear of the top.
Police officers in chemical protection suits have been seen appearing to enter Warren Street, where British Transport Police say one person has been injured.
A initial chemical search at Oval station has proved negative.
Some of these police activities are reflections of taking extra caution and being in high alert mode. And, indeed, the lingering question is whether all of these events are coordinated with last week’s carnage or separate.
According to the Washington Post, Prime Minister Tony Blair has cancelled political appearances — a move that underscores the gravity of the situation. Even if it’s not established that these events are part and parcel of last week’s bombings government officials can’t take any chances — and clearly must be on the highest alert.
Indeed, the state of uncertainty, crisis coupled with level-headedness is driven home when you read this BBC reporters’ log. Some of them detail shocked bystanders, police taking away possible suspects. One of the most interesting is this one (which echoes our reaction):
Gordon Corera : BBC Television Centre : 1457 BST
On first sight there are similarities to what happened two weeks ago. But the timing is slightly odd, much later in the day rather than rush hour for maximum damage. Secondly on the professionalism side, it looks like these explosions didn’t go off. It seems possible that the detonator went off but not the main charge.
The question that will be asked is, ‘is this a copycat or a follow-on attack’. Either way, there are a lot of leads for the police to pursue.
A roundup of events is offered by the Financial Times here. This Is London has a good collection of eyewitness accounts.
Note that the whole point of terror is to (a)spread fear, (b)spread a sense of hopelessness, (c)create a feeling of being under siege. It doesn’t require too many people (or much money) to do that.
The blog London Calling has a couple of posts including this:
The response to the latest bombings (or attempted bombings) in my office at the edge of The City, staffed as it is by caring, sharing types who work for the voluntary sector, is suprisingly impatient with the softly, softly approach of the British government. Someone just called Ken Livingstone a “wanker” and another asked why not one hate-preacher has yet to be deported.
Hopefully, this will turn out to be a non-lethal attack. But I don’t think it will be possible to pretend after today that there is no economic price to be paid for this mayhem. In the last attack, the stock market rose. As the truth sinks in that this will be a long and messy war, now also fought on the home front, the reaction of the markets will probably be more gloomy. The London Underground is the circulatory system of this city. Disrupting it for more than a few hours every week, will hurt.
UPDATES AND OTHER SITES:
—Michelle Malkin has a superb running update of stories and aspects of this case. A MUST (all day) READ!
–Glenn Reynolds’ roundup of information and reactions (including his own) to the bombing is another MUST READ here and here (but you need to go to the top of his blog since he keeps adding more items).
—Sister Toldja has a roundup.
—London Bombings: The Psychology of Terror
—The Command Post has a constant, megacomprehensive round up of breaking events and infotidbits, almost as soon as they appear. See (in order or recent posting) here, here, here, here and here — for starters…
(NOTE: This post will be UPDATED periodically during the day under the UPDATE section).
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.