Multiple Bomb Blasts in London

PHB

Three explosiions on buses in central London.
Multiple explosions on the subway in London.

Jesus christ, this looks bad

Fatalities have been reported by unofficial sources

Zombrex

At first they said it was a power surge in an electric cable in the Underground, but this is looking more and more like terrorism

pac-man

FROM SKY NEWS

BLASTS ON TUBES AND BUS

An explosion has "ripped a bus apart" just minutes after a number of blasts on London's Underground.


Scotland Yard has confirmed there has been an explosion on a bus in Tavistock Place. Union sources claim there have been reports of blasts on three different buses.

Witness Belinda Seabrook said she saw an explosion rip though a bus as it approached Russell Square.

"I was on the bus in front and heard an incredible bang. I turned round and half the double decker bus was in the air," she said.

Scotland Yard could not confirm reports of an explosion on a bus in Russell Square. A spokeswoman said police were at the scene and attempting to determine what had happened.

The entire Tube network has been shut down following the blasts at Aldgate, Edgware Road, King's Cross, Old Street and Russell Square.

It is understood several people have been wounded in the underground blasts, with one unconfirmed eyewitness telling Sky News he saw "bodies on the line".




Blast happened at Aldgate



British Transport Police confirmed there are "walking wounded" and said paramedics have responded to one report of a person classed as "life at risk".

"It's chaos, with people trying to work out what has happened," said a spokesman.

One witness said the packed underground train he was on was 200 metres from King's Cross when there was a huge flash.

The train stopped and people were using umberellas to smash windows of the trains. Passengers were led out of the train by underground staff.

He added people were milling around King's Cross covered in soot.

Clare Benson, 33, a city banker from Kensington, was on a tube at Edware Road where the second incident took place.

"I was in the last carriage at the back of the train nearest the tunnel when I heard a huge bang - you could feel it," she said.

"The lights went off for a couple of minutes and people were scared and wondering what to do.

"The drivers got out and were looking into the tunnel, then they announced that we should evacuate. My ears are still ringing and I was shaking."

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

PHB

People are trying to get up to date news on that thread and don't want any speculation, so its best to talk about stuff here aswell

BlitzKrieg

what sort of response do you think the G8 leaders will give to this?

PHB

They will go nuts I think.
Britain hasn't been attacked by somebody from outside their country in quite some time, and they will have a firm response once the culprits are located.
Bush will give a speech about his allies in the fight for freedom, how we all must share this burden and stuff.

BlitzKrieg

do you think it will have a rallying effect or a negative effect towards the bush/blair alliance? While i would personnally feel it would have a negative effect i'm thinking that it will probably have a positive effect.

Nuttzz

BlitzKrieg wrote:

what sort of response do you think the G8 leaders will give to this?

making poverty history and global warming will get the short shift at the G8 conference now....

Sleipnir

Probably they'll find it was that same fella that attacked america back in 2001 (chap from Saudi) and Bush will come to the aid of their cousins across the pond by attacking Venezuela :rolleyes:

BlitzKrieg

i dont want to sound like an evil c*nt but damn conveniant for the old war on terror...esp with the G8 conference on. All the uncomfortable elements that might have been pushed to certain world leaders can now be brushed under the table.

PHB

Indeed, Making Poverty history has almost been a waste now.
Blair was the key figure pushing for Making Poverty History at the G8 Summit, and now the summit will revert to anti-terrorism.
Another victory for the terrorists

Traffic

Speaking of victory for the terriorists im surprised they dint hit yesterday morning would scuppered londons plans for 2012

stevenmu

At a guess I'd say it was timed to coincide with the start of the G8, I've heard that there was already a lot of extra security brought up to deal with the rioting anarchists, and any expectations of a terrorist attack would have been focused there, leaving London a relativly soft target.

spudington16

Wicknight wrote:

At first they said it was a power surge in an electric cable in the Underground, but this is looking more and more like terrorism

Yeah, the whole "power surge" story kind of came under fire following the explosion of 3 buses, didn't it? :eek:

bonkey

PHB wrote:

They will go nuts I think.
Britain hasn't been attacked by somebody from outside their country in quite some time,

Well, in fairness, if you count the 'RA campaigns, its not that long ago.

and they will have a firm response once the culprits are located.

Why wait to locate the culprits? I thought the done thing nowadays was to start throwing accusations about regarding who you want to blame.

I must say, I'm curious as to whether this is timd to coincide with the G8 (because security there is so tight, resources were shifted from places like London), to coincide with the announcement of London becoming the 2012 Olympic host, or something else entirely.

I'm not gonna speculate as to whos behind it (yet), but it is a good indication that diverting security to high-profile events doesn't actually solve anyone's security problems.

Hopefully someone will start asking the awkward questions :

- Would this have been as possible/likely had security not been diverted to Gleneagles
- If not, then what has the purpose of all the post-September-11 security "improvements" actually been?

jc

Rew

spudington16 wrote:

Yeah, the whole "power surge" story kind of came under fire following the explosion of 3 buses, didn't it? :eek:

1 bus

PHB

Well the IRA were always technically internal terrorism.



I know people tend to tar Bush and Blair with the same brush, but I don't.
I have total and utter respect for Blair, and his speech just now only furthered this respect.
I don't think he is just gona go gung-ho into an attack somewhere, he will do what he feels is best, and he isn't stupid.

spudington16

Rew wrote:

1 bus

Have you considered checking the news recently? It's more thn 1 bus.

BlitzKrieg

any news from other leaders at G8?

Rew

spudington16 wrote:

Have you considered checking the news recently? It's more thn 1 bus.

Im watching BBC who just explicitly said it was one bus despite rumors it was 3. Feel free to consider checking the recent news.

Rew

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4659331.stm

1118 London's Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair tells the BBC he knows of "about six explosions", one on a bus and the others related to Underground stations. He says he believes the six affected areas are Edgware Road, King's Cross, Liverpool Street, Russell Square, Aldgate East and Moorgate, but says it is "still a confusing situation". He advises Londoners to "stay where you are - all of London's transport is currently disabled" - he refuses to confirm any fatalities

Nevyn

Blair is leaving the rest have resloved to stay and continue.

Rew

Rew wrote:

Im watching BBC who just explicitly said it was one bus despite rumors it was 3. Feel free to consider checking the recent news.

Certainly a 2nd bus was also blown apart according to ambulance services 15 mins ago.
Theres a rescue operation going on underground near Kings cross also apparently.

All the information is confused at the moment as people are dealing with the situation.
One things for sure, deaths will rise.UK government sources say 20 roughly so far.

dearg_doom

PHB wrote:

Well the IRA were always technically internal terrorism.



I know people tend to tar Bush and Blair with the same brush, but I don't.
I have total and utter respect for Blair, and his speech just now only furthered this respect.
I don't think he is just gona go gung-ho into an attack somewhere, he will do what he feels is best, and he isn't stupid.

You should probably do a bit more reading on Blair, so:) for example read up on the Iraq dossier. Then read up on the second one.

The guy is as crafty as they come, he has a better image than Bush because he is a very natural speaker and very at ease with himself, but he is not good people at all.




But regardless of who leads a country, no civilians deserve to be caught up in this kind of stuff.

It's funny, I expected something like this to happen in London sooner or later, but I'm still stunned that it's happened!

PHB

I love that attitude, he doesn't agree with me, thus inturn he is ignorant.

Nevyn

It was to be expected tbh,
G8 and the olmpics bid,
they got the biggest impact and coverage possible.
It was only a matter of time before they hit the UK.

Rew

Earthman wrote:

Certainly a 2nd bus was also blown apart according to ambulance services 15 mins ago.

Looks like a rumor, everyone is back to saying one bus and either 5 or 6 tube stations. Would have thought they would have hit a load of buses an secondary tragets ones the tube closed. Hopefully there are no more attacks to come.

danniemcq

stevenmu wrote:

At a guess I'd say it was timed to coincide with the start of the G8, I've heard that there was already a lot of extra security brought up to deal with the rioting anarchists, and any expectations of a terrorist attack would have been focused there, leaving London a relativly soft target.

if they attacked the G8 that would have just been plain stupid. if say they had killed either Jacques Chirac or Gerhard Schröder for instance who the french and german people had voted for then suddenly their respective nations view on the war on terror and iraq would change. this would of course lead to a bigger onslaught on the war on terror. now by attacking london you could imagine that a lot of nations are hoping they won't be hit like the incidents today, bali and madrid

spudington16

Rew wrote:

Looks like a rumor, everyone is back to saying one bus and either 5 or 6 tube stations. Would have thought they would have hit a load of buses an secondary tragets ones the tube closed. Hopefully there are no more attacks to come.

Methinks someone dislike the taste of sour grapes and is eager to cover up to the possibility that he's wrong, perhaps? :rolleyes:

Hobbes

danniemcq wrote:

if they attacked the G8 that would have just been plain stupid.

Because it only had possibly the best security and most of the British police force were moved to Scotland to deal with the rioting. It would of been a perfect time to attack when there are less police services. They have also crippled the transport infrastructure of London.

Rew

spudington16 wrote:

Methinks someone dislike the taste of sour grapes and is eager to cover up to the possibility that he's wrong, perhaps? :rolleyes:

check all the websites and turn on the telly...

Home Secretary just said 4 confirmend explosions, 3 tubes and 1 bus

MT

This is a terrible and horrendous event. My thoughts are with all those that are suffering and their loved ones.

It seems that there are still some that believe the destruction of innocent lives is an acceptable way of furthering their political aims. A point we in Ireland, having experienced these sorts of actions more than most, should possibly dwell on.

danniemcq

Hobbes wrote:

Because it only had possibly the best security and most of the British police force were moved to Scotland to deal with the rioting. It would of been a perfect time to attack when there are less police services. They have also crippled the transport infrastructure of London.

what you think they care about security??? if they really wanted to hit the G8 send in a suicide squad (which this could have been). pack them with explosives and cry jihad.

bonkey

spudington16 wrote:

Methinks someone dislike the taste of sour grapes and is eager to cover up to the possibility that he's wrong, perhaps? :rolleyes:

Methinks some people are too concerned about which of them has picked the right unconfirmed reports to believe, rather than in the actual tragedy that the reports are about.

jc

growler

from a political standpoint I imagine this will have the same effect as 9/11 did in the US, Labour will now be able to pass a host of new security measures through with the acquiesence of the Tories in the name of security ( ID cards in particular spring to mind) and probably a whole lot more restrictions that will affect our civil liberties. That's completely understandable and a normal human reaction to such a tragedy, although it's likely to long term negative effects on UK society.

It won't take much for the far right to start banging their chests and getting a reaction from a wider audience than they ever could before, even more worrying.

The UK was an obvious target for a long time, I am a bit surprised given how well MI5 / 6 were at apprehending so many suspects over recent years, but they only have to get it wrong once for this to happen.


Let's hope for a measured response and sensible debate rather than a backlash.

Hobbes

danniemcq wrote:

what you think they care about security??? if they really wanted to hit the G8 send in a suicide squad (which this could have been). pack them with explosives and cry jihad.

They would be picked off before they got within distance to watch them. There is generally a few miles exclusion zone along with numerous police, riot cops, snipers, helicopters and dogs.

Rew

bonkey wrote:

Methinks some people are too concerned about which of them has picked the right unconfirmed reports to believe, rather than in the actual tragedy that the reports are about.

jc

I just dont agree with spreading details that are out of date, it helps nobody.

danniemcq

Hobbes wrote:

They would be picked off before they got within distance to watch them. There is generally a few miles exclusion zone along with numerous police, riot cops, snipers, helicopters and dogs.

not necessarily true if different areas are attacked at first all attention will be on them leaving just a core set of bodyguards and police to protect them, and you could also have the terrorists armed to the teeth after all with the funding they have they could probably get their hands on hi-tech weaponry or even just plain mortars packed with gas. It doesn't have to be a case of walking straight up to the main door

mycroft

danniemcq wrote:

what you think they care about security??? if they really wanted to hit the G8 send in a suicide squad (which this could have been). pack them with explosives and cry jihad.

And like Hobbes said die a messy death after they're shot by marksman.

The G8 summit is not a target not because they don't want to it's impossible, they're too secure, in Genoa the exclusion zone was phenominal and that was just for the blac block, anyone wandering the red zone without a pass wouldn't have made it ten foot, without being challenged and probably shot just to be on the save side.

From a terrorist point of view this is the ideal target, random, crippling a major city, and happening at the perfect time to make a wider point.

not nesseseraly true if different areas are attacked at first all attention will be on them leaving just a core set of bodygaurds and police to protect them, and you could also have the terrorosts armed to the teeth after all with the funding they have they could probably get their hands on hi-tech weaponary or even just plain morters packed with gas. it doesn't have to be a case of walking straight up to the main door

Damien, seriously stop with the Andy Mc Nab delusions. You're talking about thousands of police, thats, before you hit the special forces, and security services. You really think you'll get a couple of hundred Al Q terrorists to blend innocously with anti globalisation protestors, hiding serious fire power and then launch some absurd assault on gleneagles?

Utterly farcial.

It'd be sucide on a mass scale, and would destroy Al Q, why would they do that if they can cripple a major business center with a few martyrs and some C4.

My opinion of you is plummeting.

Rew wrote:

I just dont agree with spreading details that are out of date, it helps nobody.

Yeah, you're just assuming, you've not got any concrete sources to support your claims, you're picking one, and dismissing others, despite both having the same degree of credibility.

Rew

LOL, watching a few too many movies I reckon...

dathi1

"The Secret Jihad Group of al Quida" in Europe has claimed responsibility.
Tragic and Terrible though this event is...is anybody really surprised by this??? I'm surprised it took so long.

Rew

mycroft wrote:

Yeah, you're just assuming, you've not got any concrete sources to support your claims, you're picking one, and dismissing others, despite both having the same degree of credibility.

Actually I went with what they were all saying at the time not one. Not to mention I would always consider the police commissioner and home secretary more credible then sky news etc.

dearg_doom

PHB wrote:

I love that attitude, he doesn't agree with me, thus inturn he is ignorant.

spudington16 wrote:

Methinks someone dislike the taste of sour grapes and is eager to cover up to the possibility that he's wrong, perhaps? :rolleyes:

FFS Lads, jeez, I know this is the interweb, and that we are all men with egos as big as our knobs, but this one-upmanship bollocks has to stop!

I didn't set out to imply ignorance at all. Rew seemed to only want to post the facts that he had heard confirmed and not speculation, which were proved right.

Nothing anyone says here is a personal attack surely? I know my post wasn't, I was just spreading info. There's no need to get all offended and defensive.

danniemcq

mycroft wrote:

From a terrorist point of view this is the ideal target, random, crippling a major city, and happening at the perfect time to make a wider point. You're talking about thousands of police, thats, before you hit the special forces, and security services. You really think you'll get a couple of hundred Al Q terrorists to blend innocously with anti globalisation protestors, hiding serious fire power and then launch some absurd assault on gleneagles?

i never said the G8 was a target. i agree with you (yes i know a shocking statement for a politics thread!) when you say it'd be a damn impossible job but don't feel there would be no need for hundreds of terrorists as yes that would be an unrecoverable blow, a small hardcore group would probably work better. long range attacks etc

oscarBravo

There goes my weekend in London - I have a ticket for a flight to Gatwick this evening. Still, I suppose it's better than having flown there yesterday and being on a tube this morning...

I was quite worried when I couldn't reach my brother this morning. He usually answers his landline, and the mobile networks are knackered. Got in touch with him though - he's ok.

bonkey

danniemcq wrote:

long range attacks etc

You're still dreaming.

You do know that there's an 8km exclusion zone?

Look at "long-range" attacks in the likes of Baghdad. Mortars from maybe a klick or two away, which are doing well to land in the compound they're aimed at, let alone being accurate enough to actually target individuals. Thats it.

Gleneagles would be 10x the range, requiring god-knows how much more accuracy and/or destructive power to achieve anythnig, and thats uignoring how you're gonna get your hardware and team in place with the securtity outside the exclusion zone.

Seriously...its ridiculous. This is the real world, in 2005.

jc

bonkey

oscarBravo wrote:

Got in touch with him though - he's ok.

Good to hear.

mycroft

danniemcq wrote:

i never said the G8 was a target.

Yes You did

if they really wanted to hit the G8 send in a suicide squad

i agree with you (yes i know a shocking statement for a politics thread!) when you say it'd be a damn impossible job but don't feel there would be no need for hundreds of terrorists as yes that would be an unrecoverable blow, a small hardcore group would probably work better. long range attacks etc

Again, lunacy.

Ever been to a G8 summit? No?

Well I have. The police, miltary presence is staggering, phenominal, "a small hardcore group" FFS mowed down in seconds. Chem or Biological? The secret service plan for that kind of eventuality.

When you're taking exclusion zone you're talking the finest snipers on the planet with a shoot first ask questions later carte blanché. What get, a "small hardcore group, within range, set up, find their range and pop off some shells"? before they're riddled is just nonsense, utter, utter nonsense.

Again you've been playing a tad too much splinter cell, you're in dream land.

Kingsize

911 was aparently orchestrated by 15 men armed only with craft knives

jank

mycroft wrote:

Yes You did

Again, lunacy.

Ever been to a G8 summit? No?

Well I have. The police, miltary presence is staggering, phenominal, "a small hardcore group" FFS mowed down in seconds. Chem or Biological? The secret service plan for that kind of eventuality.

When you're taking exclusion zone you're talking the finest snipers on the planet with a shoot first ask questions later carte blanché. What get, a "small hardcore group, within range, set up, find their range and pop off some shells"? before they're riddled is just nonsense, utter, utter nonsense.

Again you've been playing a tad too much splinter cell, you're in dream land.

My knob is bigger than your knob! :rolleyes: