London in chaos after series of terrorist bombings

Dozens of Londoners may have been killed, many more are injured, hundreds of thousands are stranded and public transport has been shut down across the capital after at least six explosions ripped through central London trains and buses during this morning's rush hour. The train blasts were initially blamed on a power surge, but it soon became clear that it was a co-ordinated and bloody terrorist attack on London Underground trains:

There was no official death toll but survivors of blasts at Edgware Road station and between Aldgate and Liverpool Street reported seeing piles of bodies.

And also buses. A crowded London bus in Russell Square was ripped in two, according to Sky News:

Belinda Seabrook said: "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." Mrs Seabrook said the bus was travelling from Euston to Russell Square and had been "packed" with people turned away from Tube stops.

"It was a massive explosion and there were papers and half a bus flying through the air, I think it was the number 205," she said. "There must be a lot of people dead as all the buses were packed, they had been turning people away from the tube stops. We were about 20 metres away, that was all."

These bombings occur only a day after national jubilation at London at winning the 2012 Olympic bid, and on the opening day of G8 meeting. Prime Minister Blair said the "barbaric" London blasts were terrorist attacks, designed to coincide with the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland. However they have not derailed the summit:

The PM will fly back to London soon before returning to the summit later today. He and the other leaders have agreed to carry on today's meetings without him.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke said in an official statement this morning:

There've been a number of dreadful incidents across London today. ...As far as the Police are concerned they are in operational command and dealing with the situation in accordance with very well established procedures in an extremely professional way. Health services are in support to deal with the terrible injuries that there have been and I want to express sympathy on behalf of the whole Government to the families and friends of those who have been injured.

The scale of the explosions and the disruption to transport network has obvious parallels to the al Qaida attack on Madrid, and indeed according to Sky News a previously unknown group calling itself "Secret Organisation al Qaeda in Europe" said it carried out the attacks as revenge for British "military massacres" in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Most office workers have been told to stay inside, although I have been told some buildings in Canary Wharf and elsewhere were evacuated. Foreign embassies have been evacuated. Police cars periodically whiz by my office window, sirens wailing, and there are reports that British troops are streaming into the city to secure key buildings and transport networks.

I doubt the London Underground will reopen before Friday, as the entire network will first need to be checked for bombs. If it doesn't reopen, then expect more traffic chaos this evening as commuters try to make their way home - though Zone 1 buses may be operating by then. A work colleague or friend may well be sleeping on our sofa bed tonight!

As the CNN website's London timeline shows, first reports were of an explosion and collision on a train between Liverpool Street and Aldgate East. This occurred just before 9am. I was standing on a Circle Line platform at the time, waiting for my train. We were told there had been a "power failure" at Aldgate, Liverpool Street and several other East London stations. Then we were told there had been a "derailment" (later dubbed an "incident") at Edgware Road Station. Then were told to leave the platform and make alternative travel arrangements.

By that time all the taxi company phone lines were jammed, but we were were lucky enough to hail one down the street from our flat as it dropped off a customer. As we were driven to work we passed literally thousands of people on the streets of West London either walking to work or - somewhat optimistically - waiting at bus queues. The terrorists timed the bus bombs to go off after the Tube had been suspended, when they knew London buses would be packed. Sick bastards.

My thoughts, like most Londoners, are with the casualties from these horrific crimes.

UPDATE 1: According to Sky News:

Scotland Yard has denied reports they were warned of an attack by Israel minutes before the blasts. Two people have been confirmed dead and at least 90 people injured in the explosion at Aldgate Station.

ITN quotes "a Government spokesman talking of 20 people dead."

The BBC website has a reporter's log and harrowing eyewitnesses accounts.Here's Scott Wenbourne account; he was on a train near Aldgate Station:

I saw three bodies on the track. I couldn't look, it was so horrific. I think one was moving but I'm not too sure. There were also, I think, some bodies in the carriage, some were moving but I couldn't really look. No-one was attending to them.

We walked to the platform, which took about half an hour as there were so many of us, after all it was rush hour. There were police at the platform and some of the injured were tended to.

UPDATE 2: The Home Secretary told to the House of Commons that "four explosions have been confirmed", not six as previously reported: three in the London Underground and one on a double deck bus.

Tim Worstall has a useful, updated post today, with bunch of links. Robin Grant at perfect.co.uk is live blogging, as is Europhobia, Normblog, Bloggerheads and The Guardian NewsBlog. The Guardian blog reports:

Suddenly, the terrible scale of today's attack becomes clear. Ambulance sources, reported on Sky, suggest 23 people have been killed at King's Cross, nine at Edgware road, seven at Aldgate, two at Russell Square. There are hundreds - possibly more than a thousand - injured. We're trying to verify the numbers.

David at A fistful of Euros has created a Kinja Digest of bloggers on the London bombings. A fistful of Euros also has several posts and updates itself.

Flickr has a slide show of London bomb blast images, though mostly web and TV screen shots. InstaPunk has some grim Scenes from London. And powerful images can be seen at the BBC and Sky News (click the pop-up) websites.

Meanwhile BBC News have a post discussing how blogs responded to the London blasts.

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