Global terror Tony Blair on Thursday blamed terrorists claiming to act in the name of Islam for the deadliest-ever terrorist attack on London, which killed at least 37 people.
Four bombs exploded at the height of London's morning rush hour, three in the city's underground railway system and one on a bus, bringing the transport system to a standstill.
The co-ordinated blasts, which injured at least 700 people, occurred as Mr Blair and other world leaders were meeting at the Group of Eight summit in Scotland. The prime minister said: “Here at this summit, the world's leaders are striving to combat world poverty and save and improve human life. The perpetrators of today's attacks are intent on destroying human life.”
After leaving the G8 talks and returning to London, he said: “We know that these people act in the name of Islam but we also know that the vast and overwhelming majority of Muslims both here and abroad are decent and law-abiding people who abhor this kind of terrorism every bit as much as we do.”
Jack Straw, foreign secretary, said the blasts bore the “hallmarks of an al-Qaeda-related attack”.
Main points
- At least 37 killed and 700 injured
- Four explosions confirmed
- Al Qaeda-linked group claims responsibility
- Underground and bus services suspended across the capital
- Shares on FTSE 100 fall 1.4 per cent
- Dow Jones index closed up 0.31 per cent
- Blair returns to London but G8 summit will continue
- Casualty hotline - 0870-156-6344
A previously unknown Islamist group, The Secret Organisation of Al-Qaeda Jihad in Europe, claimed responsibility.
The group said the attacks were “in revenge of the massacres that Britain is committing in Iraq and Afghanistan”. The group also threatened Italy and Denmark unless they removed troops from Iraq.British officials said they had no inkling of the attacks, an admission likely to raise questions about Britain’s preparedness.
In the past two months, MI5, the domestic security service, advised businesses that the threat from international terrorism in Britain was lower than at any time since September 11.
British officials pointed to the sophisticated choreography of the attacks. The three blasts on the Underground forced thousands from tube stations to buses. Minutes later a double-decker bus exploded.
There was no immediate word on how the bombs were detonated but police did not rule out a suicide bombing. Mobile phones, used to detonate bombs in the March 2004 rush-hour attacks in Madrid, do not function in the deep tunnels where one of the three Underground attacks occurred.
Spanish police said the attacks had parallels with those in Madrid, carried out largely by north Africans affiliated only loosely with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda group. They attacked the public transport system at rush-hour and seemed to have been aiming for maximum casualties. This suggests to us that Islamic terrorists with a common anti-western cause are involved.”
President George W.Bush sent “heartfelt condolences” to the people of London, saying “this war on terror goes on”.
Ken Livingstone, mayor of London, condemned the attacks as “mass murder”, while political and religious leaders from around the world sent their condolences to Britain.
“This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty or the powerful, it is not aimed at presidents or prime ministers, it was aimed at ordinary working-class Londoners,’’ Mr Livingstone said as he prepared to leave Singapore following London’s successful Olympic bid.
Early last month, MI5, the domestic security service, advised businesses that the threat from international terrorism in Britain was lower than at any time since the attacks on New York and Washington in September 2001. This could imply that the attacks were carried out by a terrorist cell that had not been penetrated by intelligence and which was capable of carrying out an attack of high sophistication.
The first of the explosions, at 8.51am between Liverpool Street and Aldgate East tube stations, killed seven people. An explosion minutes later between King’s Cross and Russell Square tube stations killed a further 21 and a third explosion at Edgware Road tube station killed at least seven.
London bombings: news, analysis & reaction
The Metropolitan Police said there had also been two fatalities in an explosion on a bus in Upper Woburn Place about an hour after the initial tube blast. This attack was being investigated as a possible suicide bombing.
“I saw lots of people running up a road and then saw the top of a bus destroyed,” an eyewitness told Sky News.
Early suggestions that the explosions may have been caused by an accidental power surge quickly gave way to evidence pointing to deliberate sabotage. Passengers spoke of hearing a “huge thud’’at Edgware Road station and travellers emerged from tunnels covered in blood and soot and with torn clothing.
An eyewitness at Aldgate East saw smoke rising from the station and commuters with facial injuries and burns leaving as the area was evacuated. Police said an explosive device in the middle of a train had detonated 100 metres down the track from Liverpool Street station.
The explosions shattered the euphoria generated by London’s successful bid for the Olympics and the renewed sense of national self-confidence.
The attacks initially triggered the heaviest falls in UK and European shares since the Iraq war in March 2003. The FTSE 100 fell by 1.4 per cent, or 71.3 points, to close at 5,158.3, its largest one-day fall since August 6 last year. The FTSE had earlier fallen to a low of 5,022.1 – a drop of 207.5 points or 4 per cent.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 Index of leading European shares also fell, closing down 1.36 per cent or 21.09 points at 1136.12. Earlier in the day it had touched a low of 1,107.49.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index closed up 0.25 per cent at 1,197.87, reversing small losses earlier in the day, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average also moved up towards the close to finish 0.31 per cent higher at 10,302.290. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.34 per cent to close at 2,075.66.
Little reaction to the attacks were seen in the Asian markets on Friday morning. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 255 average fell 0.23 per cent at the start of trading on Friday but soon recovered to close the morning session at 11,653.26, up 0.54 per cent. Australian stocks were broadly flat, with the ASX 200 up 0.01 per cent by midday. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 0.1 per cent to 14,038.22 at 11:01am, with most sectors steady.
The explosions prompted a flight to safe-haven assets such as bonds, gold and the Swiss franc. Sterling hit an 18-month low against the dollar, before rallying. Oil initially fell sharply but later recovered.
The explosions, during the peak rush hour, caused massive disruption for commuters and mobile networks were jammed as people attempted to call their families and colleagues. Streets around the capital on Thursday evening were packed with people attempting to find alternative ways of getting home. The Underground network normally handles more than 3m passenger journeys a day.
Reporting by Stephen Fidler, Matthew Jones, Christopher Adams, Jimmy Burns, Bob Sherwood, Fiona Harvey, Carola Hoyos and James Mawson
