Shaffer
07-08-05, 06:36 AM
One day after terrorist bombings wreaked havoc on their city in the deadliest attack since World War II, Londoners returned to work on Friday, some by way of the same transit system that was targeted Thursday.
Of the residents who reluctantly ventured back to the partially reopened Underground, some said they had little choice but to return to mass transit.
"I was scared, but what can you do?" said Raj Varatharaj, 32, emerging from an Underground station. "This is the fastest way for me to get to work. You just have to carry on."
"As Brits, we'll carry on — it doesn't scare us at all," said tour guide Michael Cahill, 37. "Look, loads of people are walking down the streets. It's Great Britain — not called 'Great' for nothing."
Tube stations opened around 5:30 a.m. Friday, their normal time, although delays were expected due to partially or fully closed subway routes. Buses in London were to resume their usual routes with no foreseen closures.
At a Scotland Yard news conference on Friday, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair (search) confirmed that the death toll had surpassed 50, with more than 700 wounded.
He said 100 victims were hospitalized overnight and that 22 were in critical condition.
At the conference, officials also emphasized that there were only four explosions, and said that confusion on Thursday over the exact number of blasts was due to train passengers fleeing single attack sites from more than one station.
They also said that initial investigation showed that each of the detonated devices apparently consisted of no more than 10 pounds of explosives, and that there was no evidence bombers were aboard the trains or the bus at the time of the explosions.
"There is absolutely nothing to suggest that these were suicide attacks," Commissioner Blair said, though he was careful to note that the possibility had not been ruled out, either.
Assistant Police Commissioner Andy Hayman said that officials still hadn't gotten near the subway cars of the Russell Square station, fearing that the tunnel is unsafe. Twenty-one dead were confirmed in that blast.
He said officials believe the bombs were placed on the floors of the three subway cars that were hit. He said the initial investigation suggests that each bomb had less than 10 pounds of explosives.
He appealed for patience as the investigation proceeds. "Our people are working under the most extreme circumstances."
Security was raised in the United States and around the world. The Bush administration upped the terror alert a notch to code orange for the nation's mass transit systems, and bomb-sniffing dogs and armed police patrolled subways and buses in the capital.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told FOX Friday that the security level was raised over concerns of a copycat attack, not because of particular information. "There has not been specific intelligence concerning a particular attack on the rail system," Chertoff said.
Much of Europe also went on alert, and Italy's airports raised alert levels to a maximum.
The bombings have left their mark on some of the targeted stations.
Of the subway system's 12 lines, service on two — the Circle Line and the Hammersmith and City Line — was suspended.
Euston Station (search), a busy station in the London transportation system, was briefly evacuated after a suspicious package was found.
Bus service was running through central London, except for diversions around blast sites.
With England's capital city reeling from Thursday's terrorist attacks on its public transportation system, much of the focus turned to the hunt for who was responsible.
An organization calling itself the "Secret Group of Al Qaeda's Jihad in Europe" (search) claimed it carried out the coordinated series of four explosions, three on the subway and one on a double-decker bus during the morning rush hour. The group said the blasts were in retaliation for Britain's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It threatened to attack Italy and Denmark for their support of the U.S.-led coalitions in both countries, too.
That claim couldn't immediately be confirmed.
Investigators said they would look for evidence in the debris from Thursday's attacks and in the video footage from some 1,800 cameras in London's train stations.
"There is real passion now in the police to make arrests quickly before further attacks can be carried out," said Charles Shoebridge, a security analyst and former counterterrorism intelligence officer.
Shoebridge said detectives will have to watch thousands of hours of video — slowly and carefully. Investigators will try to find on tape the point at which bombs were placed, then trace back the movements of the bomber, a task he said could involve hundreds of cameras.
Shoebridge said investigators also will check records of cell phone calls made in the bombed areas just before the explosions, a job that might be difficult if investigators can't determine where bombers boarded the trains.
U.S. authorities confirmed a report that British police found two unexploded bombs in London after the morning attacks. Authorities investigating the blasts also recovered parts of explosive timing devices from some of the wreckage sites, FOX News has confirmed. The evidence should help in the search for who was behind the bombings.
Earlier reports suggested a bomber may have been involved in the bus attack, though authorities later indicated they believed all four explosions were detonated by timing devices. But police were still investigating the possible involvement of homicide bombers.
At least two Americans were among the wounded, U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said, though their injuries were not life-threatening. There were unconfirmed reports that two more Americans had also been hurt in the attacks.
"It was chaos," said Gary Lewis, 32, who was evacuated from a subway train at King's Cross station. "The one haunting image was someone whose face was totally black [with soot] and pouring with blood."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair (search) blamed Islamic extremists and said the bombings were designed to coincide with the opening in Scotland of a G-8 summit (search) of the world's most powerful leaders.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw (search) said the bombings — which came the day after London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics (search) — have the "hallmarks of an Al Qaeda-related attack."
Police said there had been no warning and that the blasts at three subway stations went off within 26 minutes, starting at 8:51 a.m. in an Underground train just outside the financial district.
"There is nothing to suggest that intelligence has been missed in any way," Commissioner Blair said.
Authorities initially blamed a power surge but realized it was a terror attack after the bus bombing near the British Museum at 9:47 a.m. — less than an hour after the first explosion.
Trapped passengers in the Underground railway threw themselves on the floor, some sobbing. As subway cars quickly filled with smoke, people used their umbrellas to try to break the windows so that they could get air. Passengers emerged from the Underground covered with blood and soot. On the street, in a light rain, buses ferried the wounded, and medics used a hotel as a hospital.
"I didn't hear anything, just a flash of light, people screaming, no thoughts of what it was. I just had to get out of the train," said subway passenger Chris Randall, 28, who was hospitalized with cuts and burns to the face, the legs and hands.
It was the attack that Britain had long feared, following Al Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001, strikes in New York and Washington and Britain's subsequent alliance with U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Thursday's explosions also recalled the March 11, 2004, terrorist bombs that killed 191 people on four commuter trains in Madrid, at a time when Spain was part of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.
In Washington, a senior counterterrorism official said the claim by the unknown group is considered "potentially very credible" because it appeared on a Web site that in the past has been used for extremist postings and the message was posted soon after the attacks.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, also said British authorities identified suspicious packages Thursday and detonated them in controlled explosions. It is not yet clear whether the contents of those packages were dangerous or benign.
Based on evidence recovered from the rubble, investigators believe some of the bombs were on timers, a U.S. law enforcement official said.
Investigators doubted that cell phones — used in the Madrid attacks — were used to detonate the bombs in the Underground because the phones often don't work in the system's tunnels, the official said. One issue hampering the work is fear that the tunnels themselves may have been damaged in the blasts, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Terrorism experts agreed that the explosions had the hallmarks of Al Qaeda.
"This is clearly an Al Qaeda style attack. It was well coordinated, it was timed for a political event and it was a multiple attack on a transportation system at rush hour," said Lawrence Freedman, professor of war studies at King's College in London.
FOX News' Eric Margolis and Alex Duncan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Of the residents who reluctantly ventured back to the partially reopened Underground, some said they had little choice but to return to mass transit.
"I was scared, but what can you do?" said Raj Varatharaj, 32, emerging from an Underground station. "This is the fastest way for me to get to work. You just have to carry on."
"As Brits, we'll carry on — it doesn't scare us at all," said tour guide Michael Cahill, 37. "Look, loads of people are walking down the streets. It's Great Britain — not called 'Great' for nothing."
Tube stations opened around 5:30 a.m. Friday, their normal time, although delays were expected due to partially or fully closed subway routes. Buses in London were to resume their usual routes with no foreseen closures.
At a Scotland Yard news conference on Friday, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair (search) confirmed that the death toll had surpassed 50, with more than 700 wounded.
He said 100 victims were hospitalized overnight and that 22 were in critical condition.
At the conference, officials also emphasized that there were only four explosions, and said that confusion on Thursday over the exact number of blasts was due to train passengers fleeing single attack sites from more than one station.
They also said that initial investigation showed that each of the detonated devices apparently consisted of no more than 10 pounds of explosives, and that there was no evidence bombers were aboard the trains or the bus at the time of the explosions.
"There is absolutely nothing to suggest that these were suicide attacks," Commissioner Blair said, though he was careful to note that the possibility had not been ruled out, either.
Assistant Police Commissioner Andy Hayman said that officials still hadn't gotten near the subway cars of the Russell Square station, fearing that the tunnel is unsafe. Twenty-one dead were confirmed in that blast.
He said officials believe the bombs were placed on the floors of the three subway cars that were hit. He said the initial investigation suggests that each bomb had less than 10 pounds of explosives.
He appealed for patience as the investigation proceeds. "Our people are working under the most extreme circumstances."
Security was raised in the United States and around the world. The Bush administration upped the terror alert a notch to code orange for the nation's mass transit systems, and bomb-sniffing dogs and armed police patrolled subways and buses in the capital.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told FOX Friday that the security level was raised over concerns of a copycat attack, not because of particular information. "There has not been specific intelligence concerning a particular attack on the rail system," Chertoff said.
Much of Europe also went on alert, and Italy's airports raised alert levels to a maximum.
The bombings have left their mark on some of the targeted stations.
Of the subway system's 12 lines, service on two — the Circle Line and the Hammersmith and City Line — was suspended.
Euston Station (search), a busy station in the London transportation system, was briefly evacuated after a suspicious package was found.
Bus service was running through central London, except for diversions around blast sites.
With England's capital city reeling from Thursday's terrorist attacks on its public transportation system, much of the focus turned to the hunt for who was responsible.
An organization calling itself the "Secret Group of Al Qaeda's Jihad in Europe" (search) claimed it carried out the coordinated series of four explosions, three on the subway and one on a double-decker bus during the morning rush hour. The group said the blasts were in retaliation for Britain's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It threatened to attack Italy and Denmark for their support of the U.S.-led coalitions in both countries, too.
That claim couldn't immediately be confirmed.
Investigators said they would look for evidence in the debris from Thursday's attacks and in the video footage from some 1,800 cameras in London's train stations.
"There is real passion now in the police to make arrests quickly before further attacks can be carried out," said Charles Shoebridge, a security analyst and former counterterrorism intelligence officer.
Shoebridge said detectives will have to watch thousands of hours of video — slowly and carefully. Investigators will try to find on tape the point at which bombs were placed, then trace back the movements of the bomber, a task he said could involve hundreds of cameras.
Shoebridge said investigators also will check records of cell phone calls made in the bombed areas just before the explosions, a job that might be difficult if investigators can't determine where bombers boarded the trains.
U.S. authorities confirmed a report that British police found two unexploded bombs in London after the morning attacks. Authorities investigating the blasts also recovered parts of explosive timing devices from some of the wreckage sites, FOX News has confirmed. The evidence should help in the search for who was behind the bombings.
Earlier reports suggested a bomber may have been involved in the bus attack, though authorities later indicated they believed all four explosions were detonated by timing devices. But police were still investigating the possible involvement of homicide bombers.
At least two Americans were among the wounded, U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said, though their injuries were not life-threatening. There were unconfirmed reports that two more Americans had also been hurt in the attacks.
"It was chaos," said Gary Lewis, 32, who was evacuated from a subway train at King's Cross station. "The one haunting image was someone whose face was totally black [with soot] and pouring with blood."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair (search) blamed Islamic extremists and said the bombings were designed to coincide with the opening in Scotland of a G-8 summit (search) of the world's most powerful leaders.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw (search) said the bombings — which came the day after London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics (search) — have the "hallmarks of an Al Qaeda-related attack."
Police said there had been no warning and that the blasts at three subway stations went off within 26 minutes, starting at 8:51 a.m. in an Underground train just outside the financial district.
"There is nothing to suggest that intelligence has been missed in any way," Commissioner Blair said.
Authorities initially blamed a power surge but realized it was a terror attack after the bus bombing near the British Museum at 9:47 a.m. — less than an hour after the first explosion.
Trapped passengers in the Underground railway threw themselves on the floor, some sobbing. As subway cars quickly filled with smoke, people used their umbrellas to try to break the windows so that they could get air. Passengers emerged from the Underground covered with blood and soot. On the street, in a light rain, buses ferried the wounded, and medics used a hotel as a hospital.
"I didn't hear anything, just a flash of light, people screaming, no thoughts of what it was. I just had to get out of the train," said subway passenger Chris Randall, 28, who was hospitalized with cuts and burns to the face, the legs and hands.
It was the attack that Britain had long feared, following Al Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001, strikes in New York and Washington and Britain's subsequent alliance with U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Thursday's explosions also recalled the March 11, 2004, terrorist bombs that killed 191 people on four commuter trains in Madrid, at a time when Spain was part of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.
In Washington, a senior counterterrorism official said the claim by the unknown group is considered "potentially very credible" because it appeared on a Web site that in the past has been used for extremist postings and the message was posted soon after the attacks.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, also said British authorities identified suspicious packages Thursday and detonated them in controlled explosions. It is not yet clear whether the contents of those packages were dangerous or benign.
Based on evidence recovered from the rubble, investigators believe some of the bombs were on timers, a U.S. law enforcement official said.
Investigators doubted that cell phones — used in the Madrid attacks — were used to detonate the bombs in the Underground because the phones often don't work in the system's tunnels, the official said. One issue hampering the work is fear that the tunnels themselves may have been damaged in the blasts, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Terrorism experts agreed that the explosions had the hallmarks of Al Qaeda.
"This is clearly an Al Qaeda style attack. It was well coordinated, it was timed for a political event and it was a multiple attack on a transportation system at rush hour," said Lawrence Freedman, professor of war studies at King's College in London.
FOX News' Eric Margolis and Alex Duncan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.