[From the diaries by susanhu.} At least 3 reports of explosions on buses in London, and also disruption of the Tube system. One double decker bus has been described as ‘torn apart’ by an explosion.
An ITN live broadcast described a major attack to cause maximum chaos, and minimal loss of life. Not like Madrid.
There are reports of injuries.
I’ll update as I find more information.
Update [2005-7-7 6:9:11 by zander]: – This is a major event. First explosions happened at 8:49 local time. The entire mobile phone network has ground to a halt, while people contact loved ones.
Many people were trapped underground as the tube system stopped. Witnesses have described a flash and a sudden outage that stopped trains. There is some uncertainty about the cause.
Update [2005-7-7 8:11:56 by zander]:
There has a been a series of coordinated explosions in London. There has been very little confirmation but… reports are between 4 and 7 explosions in the underground tube system, and 1 to 3 bus explosions. 2 are confirmed dead, though that number will surely rise.
Timeline (props to ManEegee)
CNN timeline via Sofia News Agency
12:00 p.m.: British Prime Minister Tony Blair says the “barbaric” London blasts are terrorist attacks and were designed to coincide with the G8 summit in Scotland. He will return to London.
11:35 a.m.: London police chief said there are “indications of explosives” at one of the blast sites.
11:15 Police say there were at least six explosions in London.
11:15 European Union commissioner for justice and security affairs Franco Frattini tells reporters in Rome that the blasts in London are terrorist attacks.
11:10 Police say they have reports of two deaths and nine injuries at Aldgate East subway station.
11:07 All bus services have been suspended in London, news agencies report.
10.57 British Prime Minister Tony Blair will stay at the G8 summit in Scotland but says he will speak at midday.
10:47 Home Secretary Charles Clarke says multiple London blasts cause “terrible injuries.”
10:46 Police report serious casualties in London explosions, but no deaths confirmed.
10:46 Witness to Britain’s Sky News says second blast heard in Russell Square.
10:45 Police sources say a bomb is suspected in London bus explosion.
10:33 Police confirm at least three explosions on buses in central London.
10:25 Police confirm explosion on bus in central London in the area around Russell Square.
10:24 Scotland Yard says “multiple explosions” rock London.
10:14 News agencies report a bus has exploded in central London.
10:02 Scotland Yard says it is dealing with a “major incident.”
09:53 Metronet says the entire London subway network has been shut down.
Police says incidents are reported at the Aldgate station near the Liverpool Street railway terminal, Edgware Road and King’s Cross in north London, Old Street in the financial district and Russell Square in central London, near the British Museum.
09:41 London Underground reports a second explosion at a subway station in northwest London.
09:33 Witnesses say London Underground says services are suspended after “power surge.”
09:27 Metronet, the subway maintenance company, says power surge has caused explosion in London tube station.
09:25 Police say “there are walking wounded” in London’s financial district.
09:15 British Transport Police say a explosion is reported in London’s financial district in the area near Liverpool railway station.
Update [2005-7-7 8:30:18 by zander]: There is currently a rescue operation underway at King’s Cross Station.
Update [2005-7-7 9:7:36 by zander]: Police are reassuring the city that the situation is under control. They are not speculating at this point on the possibility of a suicide bomber being responsible for the bus bombing.
Update [2005-7-7 9:26:0 by zander]: Wikipedia is all over it.
And Europhobia has blogged every moment of it.
Update [2005-7-7 9:33:22 by zander]: A British station is reporting 45 dead – unconfirmed by other sources.
Update [2005-7-7 10:38:39 by zander]: From a press conference held by British Emergency Services.At least 33 confirmed dead.
DAC Brian Paddick
Police casualty bureau is open for inquiries…
At 8:51 incident at Mooregate(?), confirmed explosion inside the tunnel – 7 confirmed fatalities.
8:56 incident at King’s Cross station – 21 confirmed fatalities.
9:17 on train in Edgeware Station, blew a hole in another train – 3 trains involved– 5 fatalities.
9:47 bus explosion – no confirmed numbers of fatalities….
4 devices involved… police service had no warning– no claims of responsibility.
DCC Andy Trotter
The underground will be down until tomorrow – buses running later today, overground closed…. Streets closed.
There are a number of bomb scares…. Doing their best to open up the system. Londoners try to make their way home….
Ambulance service….
Treated 45 with serious or critical injuries – amputations, burns, etc
300 with minor injuries – smoke inhalation, lacerations, bruises, etc.
over 100 ambulance vehicles served many scenes, asking the public to not call emergency unless they have life-threatening need
There is no one still trapped, the system was cleared within an hour or two.
Here is a story up. Thx for the heads up
Thanks. I’ve seen reports of 7 explosions in the tube, or 6… one bus blown up… or 3…
This is pretty huge…
scary stuff. What pisses me off is that Bush, Blair, etc. will use this as justification for their illegal invasion of Iraq. I’m all for ‘getting the terrorists’ but their methods are abhorrent. I would offer alternatives to their warplan but it’s 2:50am and I just got home from a night out.
I’m a vegetarian, a pacifist and a Canadian – and I’m almost angry enough to lash out at those bastards. They are a cause, a magnet and a justification for violence. And I don’t even kill spiders, you know what I mean?
I know what u mean. This is a sad day for humanity…again.
Eye witness is describing the top of a bus being blown off. Several major roads are closed during rush hour traffic. Police, ambulances, fire trucks converging on location. Evacuations are taking place. I’ve seen what appears to be hazmat teams gearing up…
I’m watching it now — They just said something about moving to recovery rather than search. And double-digit fatalities from one station.
As a transit rider and spouse of a bus driver, I take this sort of thing very personally…and very difficultly. The spouse is home from work today (took a sick day, wasn’t feeling well last night), and though last night I was thinking, “Shit, there goes the routine,” now I’m glad he’s home and safe.
Part of me wonders if part of the attacks might have been aimed at the Olympics announcement…the terrorists saying, “Don’t forget about us…” I would think that if it was G8 related, it would have been in Scotland, possibly Edinburgh. But that’s just my wandering brain…
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Targets are where the terrorists have home support and ease of surveillance. Large metropolitan area, many foreigners, tourists to act in disguise. Need to target and disrupt the City of London, its commuters and financial district.
After 9-11 attacks on NY and DC, an analysis was made of likely targets within Europe for Al Qaeda. The first three on the list: London, Madrid and The Netherlands. These attacks are not avoidable, just hope they are not extreme and can be delayed in time – weeks, months, years.
Need to work on the circumstances and environment where support for terrorism grows. In The Netherlands, the suspects that where apprehended last few years were all Dutch born nationals of Arabic descent. Age very young – under 23 years old – adapted to extreme Islamists after 9-11!
See the FBI files on the Buffalo, NY Al Qaeda cell, a model how Islamists operate inside a nation.
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reporting major casualties; here is the link.
Ug… please keep adding whatever you find…
Conflicting reports… central london .. 3 explosions on buses, at least 6 explosions in the underground transportation system. There are reports of fatalities.
I’m trying to cover it on EuroTrib.
Sky is reporting deaths, apparently.
I was just heading over to Eurotrib for more info.
Reports of a major power surge of some kind that has shut down the entire tube system.
Witness – on the Picadilly line. Train went dark, there was soot, people were screaming… people were smashing glass trying to open doors, there was no lighting… people were hot, sharing water, … trying to walk off of the platform…. staff arrived to evacuate people. Staff claimed that a bomb had gone off in a station.
The link is here
Link is here (via MSNBC.com)
to speak soon.
2 deaths and 90 injuries are being reported on CBC TV.
There is reluctance to call this a terrorist act, and there seems to be some determination to call this a ‘power surge’ in the underground.
Eurotrib citing Europhobia:
Met thinks there have been 6 explosions – 5 on the Tube, 1 on a bus.
Official list of explosions
Aldgate East
Norgate
Russell Sq
Liverpool St
Edgware Rd
Kings Cross
Met asking media not to speculate!
Just saw the remains of a bus…. it was messy. There are bloody victims speaking to the press right now.
is reporting that Israel was given prior warning of a terrorist attack (taken with a grain of salt due to the source)
There is reluctance to call this a coordinated terrorist attack, but there can be little doubt. The tube could have been disrupted by a power outage, but the bus…
London’s police chief has gone on record mentioning the suspicion of attacks, and Jerusalem has spoken about Scotland Yard mentioning the threat of attacks.
Market main index… was flat immediately before… it’s now off by 4% – down 206.50 – affecting Paris and Frankfurt markets also….
from the BBC:
and a post by Scipio..
“To give some context…
Edgeware Road is a reasonably busy station on the edge of the West End. It’s also in the center of London’s downtown Arab community. King’s Cross is one of the busiest stations in London, and is a major junction between communter rail and Tube trains. It’s in th eprocess of being rebuilt to deal with the new Eurostar extension. Russel Square and Tavistock Square and very posh areas of town, and on the edge of some major banking areas. Bank is right on the edge of the City of London, and would have been heavily used by businessmen on the last legs of their journeys to their offices. Liverpool Street is on one side of the City, and is another link from commuter rail to the tube. Moorgate is also a comuter station, but would have been less busy than the other City stations. “
Nancy Durham CBC news – London…
London police chief – saying evidence of explosives at the sites.
Blair expected to speak soon.
France in on ‘high alert’.
There are still people trapped underground. Sniffer dogs are out, there is the possibility of further explosives.
Reports of 2 other bus explosions are unconfirmed.
There are 2 confirmed deaths, no good estimates for injuries.
(crossposted from Eurotrib)
“clear that there are a series of terrorist attacks in London….it’s my intention to lead the G8 and get a report face-to-face….and then return later this evening….the meeting will continue in my absence….each of the countries at the table have experienced the effects of terrorism….share our complete resolution to defeat terrorism….barbaric that this has happened today….clear that it has been designed to coincide with the opening of the G8….it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and other civilized nations…. (best I could do)
Is it just me, or did he sound entirely too Bush like? That freaked me out badly…
like Bush, but he was visibly shaken. I don’t have my tinfoil hat on yet, I don’t think they knew. What a sad day…
I just watched him again, and … and…. I didn’t get the ‘visibly shaken’ part – I got lame attempts to earnestly emote.
Blair…
Obviously clear that there have been terrorist attacks. People have died and been injured. It is my intention to leave G8 and go to London. …. Meeting will go on in his absence. …
It is reasonably clear that this is timed and aimed to coincide with the G8. It’s important that those engaged in terrorism understand that our determination to …. blah, blah, sounding like Bush. It is our determination that they will never succeed. Sounding entirely too much like Bush… so much so that my inclination is to think that Blair is behind these attacks…
One thing to remember is that London is, after years of IRA attacks, is one of the best-secured cities in the world against terrorist attacks.
Also quite convenient that this happens just as the Palme thing’s ratcheting up, Bush’s approval ratings are plummeting, the G8’s starting, and Britain’s making noises about withdrawing troops from Iraq…
Hospital – 40 casualties from the Edgware Station – 14 of them in critical condition.
.
Suggestion for next city to be bombed to solve our anger …
What about Tehran tomorrow?
We’re staying the course, got them on the run.
BTW What was the link Iraq – Saddam Hussein and 9-11 attack?
George just last week motivated the brilliant counterattack of pre-emption to occupy Iraq in order to fight the terrorists on their soil.
The 45 minute time frame of Tony Blair was in fact 841 days 7 hours 16 min 30 sec.
DEFENSE SECRETARY DONALD RUMSFELD: I think we’re probably watching something that is somewhat historic.
TERENCE SMITH: Defense Sec. Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged the importance of the embedding process, but cautioned that the close-up view is not always complete.
DONALD RUMSFELD: And what we are seeing is not the war in Iraq; what we’re seeing are slices of the war in Iraq.
We’re seeing that particularized perspective that that reporter or that commentator or that television camera happens to be able to see at that moment, and it is not what’s taking place. What you see is taking place, to be sure, but it is one slice, and it is the totality of that that is what this war is about.
UK and Great Britain civilians just got served another slice of the totality of what war is all about, when you invade a sovereign nation after all deceit and lies.
A Strategy of Lies: How the White House Fed the Public a Steady Diet of Falsehoods
Colonel Sam Gardiner (USAF, Ret.) has identified 50 false news stories created and leaked by a secretive White House propaganda apparatus. Bush administration officials are probably having second thoughts about their decision to play hardball with former US Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Joe Wilson is a contender. When you play hardball with Joe, you better be prepared to deal with some serious rebound.
[Very enlighting to read all of it!]
GOEBBELS: “We came from the people, we remain part of the people, and see ourselves as the executor of the people’s will.”
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.
the bs we’re going to hear today in statements from Blair and Bush.
Tony Blair at Gleneagles July 7, 2005
Is Tony Blair not going to make a political statement today?
How many bombs have been dropped on civilians in Iraq – 3 Time Frames from Europe.
What do you think war is about?
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Bush just ditto-ed. Same shit.
ZANDER, please continue to update us. THANK YOU for all your hard work.
You’re welcome to START a new diary when this one gets long, and we’ll promote it.
Please don’t post photos so it’s easy for people to open and post.
Thanks Susan, but I think I’m trashed.. I was almost asleep when this began, and am getting pretty blurry now. Only new news I’ve heard is the sporatic closing of pubs…
had the audacity to say the “we will not allow violence to change our our governments or our societies.”
Yeah, unless he’s the one in charge of the violence,
Bush, I did not listen to as he is the last person I would listen to on a day like today.
But Blair described these murders as an “attack on the entire civilized world.” I immediately thought, was not the Iraqi population civilized long before the population of England? Would he characterize his military’s participation in the invasion of Iraq as an attack on ‘the entire civilized world.’
At first I was shocked by the negative comments on DKos that this morning’s attacks in London were getting more attention than the daily slaughter in Iraq. The posters were confrontational in their words and put people off. But later upon reflection, I realized that it happens to be true that the slaughter in Iraq rarely makes the front pages especially if the victims are Iraqi. I am guilty too of this imbalance in outlook, being totally shocked by the murders in London, much more shocked than I am in monitoring the “Iraq War Grief daily.”
Eyewitness accounts are coming in at ITV.com. (The site is struggling with traffic and quite slow).
What’s going on in Warsaw? Someone just told me they heard there was an attack in Warsaw as well.
I hadn’t heard that at all – a quick glance at news… gives me “Warsaw metro on high alert”, but nothing else… let me know OK?
I caught the same info as you zander, no news of any attacks in warsaw.
CNN – there could be a high casualty count. Survivors have been taken to hospitals, but recovery of bodies has yet to truly begin.
Al-Qaeda has been mentioned.
when I signed in that Israel is reporting that Scotland Yard had told them that they had warnings concerning terrorist strikes.
I just found this at National Post
Israel was holding an economic conference near the scene of one of the explosions.
Thanks for having this up! Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and I still get to witness how this unfolded.
It’s almost 5am here in Az, I need to try to sleep. See you all soon.
Thanks for everything… g’night.
OK, they must have misunderstood about Warsaw.
There’s some talk over at Eurotrib too… and I just found a denial… at Polskie Radio
Meanwhile, the Polish parliament has interrupted its session with a minute of silence for the victims of the terrorist attack in London.
Um -shrug.
drops to 19 month low. Financial district open but… functioning with difficulty.
Enlighten me a little about what affect this may or may not have on the U.S. economy? Will we also feel this here? Will our markets also likely drop?
The whole thing is depressing, because it just lends credence to the idea that “If the preznit looks weak, the terrrrrists will attack.”
But this dynamic is very predictable. And we’re fighting against a dynamic, not against any one particular terrorist group. In order to break the dynamic, the only way out is to not fight back militarily (or, if you must use the military, to use it very wisely). The way to break the dynamic is to alter policy. Because in the end, terrorists are not really after the “downfall” of the U.S. or any other country; they are really after personal power, and terror creates a world where they can have that power.
The London terror attacks (as they appear to be terror attacks) are not an attack on the U.S. military alliance, but rather an attack on those who wish the Iraq war stopped and superpower and corporate policy changed. As soon as these voices became more powerful and gained some of the upper hand, becoming more legitimized, they needed to be blotted out – with more terror and human suffering. Because these voices for change destabilize the terror dynamic – they eventually put terror out of business.
And terror is a big business. It gives fringe elements in the Islamic world the reason to exist and thrive and gain power and influence in their societies. It gives the Bush gang and Halliburton a reason to exist and thrive and profit. Terror is, in fact, a very attractive racket; although, as we see, one that the racketeers cannot control.
You would have seen the same result if John Kerry had been elected president, which would have inevitably moved the public discourse toward ending the war in Iraq and adopting new foreign policies, new energy policies, etc. The election of Kerry would have destabilized the dynamic of terror.
With Bush’s approval ratings sinking, renewed terror attacks were inevitable, almost predictable. (Small comfort to Londoners…) Not because the Bush Administration does anything like planning terror attacks to happen, but because the terror dynamic has to respond to the threat of unjust wars being called off, energy policy being changed, etc.
It may seem strange to think of the terror dynamic as an entity unto itself – it almost sounds like I am ascribing intelligent motives to collective human behavior, I suppose. But it becomes a lot clearer how we have to respond when we understand that it is the dynamic that we are fighting; that Bush, Halliburton and Al Qaeda are all just merely tools of the dynamic.
Since no nation or other powerful group has stepped up to break the back of the terror dynamic, eventually this struggle may come to your own doorstep. You may be asked to sacrifice your children for war, or you may be pressured to discriminate against minorities or look the other way while others do it. Then what will YOU do? Will you submit to the dynamic, or will you go along with it?
Unconfirmed reports of Al-Qaeda claiming responsibility.
Grabbed from Europhobia:
From Back to Iraq:
Today’s blasts in London have been claimed by Al Qaeda’s European chapter, Qaeda’t al-Jihad in Europe. A statement has been posted on a site often used by Qaeda agents, http://www.qal3ata.com. The statement follows (translated by one of my staff here in Baghdad):
Jamaat al-Tandheem Al-Sierri (secret organization group)
Organization of Qaeda’t al-Jihad in Europe
In the name of God the most merciful…
Rejoice the nation of Islam, rejoice nation of Arabs, the time of revenge has come for the crusaders’ Zionist British government.
As retaliation for the massacres which the British commit in Iraq and Afghanistan, the mujahideen have successfully done it this time in London.
And this is Britain now burning from fear and panic from the north to the south, from the east to the west.
We have warned the brutish governments and British nation many times.
And here we are, we have done what we have promised. We have done a military operation after heavy work and planning, which the mujahideen have done, and it has taken a long time to ensure the success of this operation.
And we still warn the government of Denmark and Italy, all the crusader governments, that they will have the same punishment if they do not pull their forces out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
So beware.
Thursday 7/7/2005
Jamaat al-Tandheem Al-Sierri (secret organization group)
Organization of al Qaeda’t al-Jihad in Europe.
War makes us safer. The more terrorists we kill, the safer we’ll be. War is peace.
is making the world much safer…ooops, I forgot, this happened in London, not Chicago…no skin off our asses.
Well, as long as the terrorists stay out of America and keep killing foreigners, we’ve done our job…
<sarcasm alert>
My heart goes out to those innocents in London and deep sadness ingulfs me. I put the sole responsibilty and that feet of W and his warmongering cronies. Safer world my ass. This is a very sad day indeed.
Couldn’t have said it better!
I just received a phone call from my republican sister. Both of us so dismayed at what in London today. THEN, it turned ugly. We so disagree on our politics. SHe watched Faux and has NEVER heard of the Downing Street Memos. She said, “Oh is that one of those blogs you read?” GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! I tried to explain to no avail. She doesn’t believe Bush lied that he just went with the “intelligence” he had. THEN started talking about congress/senate on both sides and all the “pork” and how she had been in Little Rock in the 90s and they had six lane highways where there was no need for that. (Her way of blaming Clinton). She did say the war mess is Rumsfeld’s fault, and my reply was “And Cheney and Haliburton”. She then said, “Oh Jesus, I have to go” and hung up. They just don’t want to know. They just can’t stand hearing the truth. I had to go for a run to try and get my frustration and anger over her stupidity out of my system. It deeply saddens me that she and I cannot have a civil conversation anymore. God I am so pissed. HELP!!!
Is caught in this mess. We can be your political family of choice. I have a few Faux News supporters in my lineage too.
Ah thanks Tracy. It is so minor really in the big scheme of things. It just hurts though. I have to jump in the shower for work. Life goes on but somehow its hard to just do the everyday things.Later!
Have a huge hug. Sadly, some people prefer to stay in denial. Channel your extra energy towards those affected by all of this chaos – the terror victims, the war victims – all who need your spirit right now.
I hear you loud and clear, alohaleezy.
My sister is the same damn way. She does the emotional arguing thing, where logic is elastic and facts are easily discarded when they become inconvenient, and I just don’t know how to work with it. We used to be very close, but a few years ago she went over to the dark side and ever since it’s been very difficult to communicate. I try not to argue with her, but sometimes it creeps right up before I see it coming, much as you describe. One minute we’re talking about values that we share and the next minute she’s spouting Faux talking points at me. Argh.
Well, at least we all have each other here to support, vent, and all that. I don’t know what I’d do without the blogs. You all help keep me sane.
Thank you Indylib, MilitaryTracy and Catnip for your kind and supportive words. I will channel my energies where they are really needed. Sis and I went through this right after the election and did not speak for three or so months. When we finally spoke again we came to the agreement to not talk politics. In this world climate how does one not talk about politics. We could have shared our dismay over todays events but it just didn’t happen. I left out that her first comment that I had to disagree with was she thought all this talk about Gitmo was ridiculous. All I said was(biting my tongue)I had to disagree that I know tortue doesn’t get information. Her response was “At least WE are not beheading anyone”. I still kept my cool but we all know what happened from there. ANyway, I didn’t mean to hijack this thread and I appreciate the words of wisdom and we are all so lucky to have this place to vent our rage and sadness and support one another. Bless you Booman for this site.
BBC World now says one bus explosion in Woburn Place and six on Underground. Two people killed and up to 150 injured. This was very very lucky: could have been a lot more fatalities…
This should be a front page story.
I just crossed the border into Detroit and back, traffic was light and I saw a fairly large number of cars pulled over to secondary. I don’t normally travel at this time, so I don’t know if that was a “normal” level of activity at secondary.
Bush made some garbled statement that is being interpreted as suggesting ‘vigilance’ at home.
France went to high alert right away, but I don’t think the US has issued an alert, or changed security levels today.
It is sad to hear people using this event to reassert their patriotism. This means more support for war as a means to deal with “terrorism”.
Anybody else have an icky feeling about this event, as a possible insider job, much as I feel about 9/11? Is this the 9/11 of Britain? Couldn’t come at a more favorable time for Blair.
I don’t think it’s anything but a terror attack by some Al Qaeda associated group (or, a group that fancies itself Al Qaeda).
But come now. You didn’t really think that we were going to get on the road to sanity so easily? A Rove takedown here, a falling Bush approval rating there, a Downing Street Memo there?
The oddest assumption that people make, when they are in the thrall of the terror dynamic, is that these attacks happen because the forces of terror are emboldened. What’s happening is that the forces of terror feel threatened by rising tides of sanity in the Western world (expressed in increased criticism of the war) and will do anything to derail that sanity.
We spoke of this over on Liberal Street Fighter the other week, where some of us agreed that the rising voices speaking out against lies and insanity (ie, criticism of Bush and Iraq) only portended an imminent terror attack. Sadly it appears this has happened.
Terror is the enemy of sanity and peace, and will aggressively move when it starts to lose hold over the general population.
So how do you get out of terror’s grip? You stay the course of peace, truth and policy change (and military action CAN in some instances be a tool of good policy)… no matter what.
No matter what.
Don’t let these poor people in London have died in vain, only to continue the terror dynamic’s grip over our nations and our world today.
More than 300 wounded, many killed, people going to
work…The mayor of London had the best reaction
speaking directly to the murderers, “you did not
attack the powerful, but working people.”
The Londoners being interviewed are remarkably calm.
They shared water with strangers on the underground
while sitting in the dark, covered in soot.
BBC World said a few minutes ago that it now appears there was one bus bomb and three explosions on tube. One explosion occurred between Liverpool St & Aldgate stations and had previously seemed like two separate events. fatalities = several at Edgeware Rd and 2 at Tavistock Place / Woburn Place. 150 casualties in hospital. The run down on those in various hospitals suggests that a number are seriously injured: more may die.
Colman comments at EuroTrib that they’re awfully quiet about King’s Cross…
Police and emergency services briefing now live on BBC World & CNN Int’l: tube bombs killed 7, 21, 5 respectively and fatalities from bus bomb not certain (sounds ugly ie a lot of small pieces).
Thanks so much for covering this and thanks to all who have contributed. I just got out of bed, turned the TV on, checked out online news and came over here because I knew I could count on Tribbers to be digging for more information. zander, your coverage is excellent.
This is horrific. My thoughts are with all Londoners and anyone who is touched by this tragedy. I just don’t know what else to say right now.
CNN online has extensive coverage and free video.
London police press conference on CNN TV right now.
BBC America TV channel is carrying the news, incl. a press conference on right now.
.
Excellent NEWS link for latest info – all the details.
An Arab specialist in The Netherlands, executive manager for RNW Radio Netherlands World gave same assessment on European Al Qaeda affiliate as credible.
The rhetoric is identical, indicated the reward came after overcoming many hardships to hit at the heart of “Zionists and Crusaders” in Great Britain as had been promised. A day to rejoice. Indeed named two countries Denmark and Italy, where similar attacks will take place.
No mention of martyrs, what would be the case of suicide attacks. The level of sophistication is high, that indicates the presence of a large group involved in the logistics. Similar to Madrid bombings, this would be a group of 20-50 terrorists.
The Netherlands have gone into state of high alert in coordination with all EU countries. All border crossings and public transportation will be under extra security and scrutiny. These attacks are unavoidable, London was a likely location, not only because of involvement in Middle-east, but because of decades of Islamist support groups and large number of Muslims within the UK.
See European Tribune for full coverage and Al-Qaeda message posted by Soj.
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It’s posted here too, above.