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07/21/2005:
"London attacked again; police confirm 4 blasts"
LONDON - Explosions struck three London Underground stations and a bus at midday Thursday in a chilling but less deadly replay of the suicide bombings that killed 56 people two weeks ago.Only one person was reported wounded, but the lunch-hour explosions caused major shock and disruption in the capital and were hauntingly similar to the July 7 bombings by four attackers.
The London police commissioner confirmed Thursday that four explosions took place in what he described as “a very serious incident.”
“We’ve had four explosions — four attempts at explosions,” Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair said outside police headquarters at Scotland Yard.
“At the moment the casualty numbers appear to be very low ... the bombs appear to be smaller” than those detonated July 7.
At a news gathering, Prime Minister Tony Blair appealed for calm. He said the people behind the incidents are trying to "scare people" and "make them anxious."
Blair said police were hoping to get the city's transit system "back to normal as quickly as possible."
Chase
Minutes before the prime minister spoke, police with their weapons drawn escorted a man away from the gates at the end of Downing Street.
A police officer drew a firearm and aimed it at a target beyond the range of television cameras. Another officer then led away a man whose black shirt was undone. The man also wore black trousers and appeared to be of Asian or Middle Eastern origin.
Meantime, police were searching a London hospital Thursday for a man wearing a blue shirt with wires protruding from a hole in the back, a TV report said.
An internal memo at University College Hospital in north London urged staff to watch for the man, described as a black or Asian male, about 6-feet-2, Sky News television reported.
One witness told Sky TV that a fellow subway passenger told him a backpack exploded at the Warren Street station and there were reports of smoke.
Sky TV reported that police said no chemical agents were involved in the explosions.
Explosions also were reported at the Shepherds Bush and Oval stations.
Emergency teams were sent to all three stations after the incidents, which began at 12:38 p.m.
Witnesses said they had seen what could have been a would-be bomber running away after dropping a rucksack on one of the trains.
“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 BBC.
“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,” she said.
Passengers were evacuated off a bus in Hackney, east London, and police cordoned off streets nearby. The bus company said a blast blew out the windows of the bus but a police officer on the scene said there were no signs of damage.
A police officer told Reuters: “The bus driver heard a bang at the back of the bus. He thought it was probably a vehicle that had hit him.
“He stopped at a nearby bus stop and saw a suspect package at the back of the bus.”
The fire brigade put on protective clothing before moving towards the bus.
Closed-circuit TV cameras on Hackney Road showed the No. 26 bus immobilized at a stop with its indicator lights flashing. The area around the bus had been cordoned off.
Full: msnbc.msn.com
