Bucket bomb triggers ‘wall of fire’
Burning commuters in underground train rush out of the station after big explosion
A loud bang followed by a “wall of fire” broke the calm of a quiet part of London on Friday when a bomb went off on an Underground train, burning commuters who stampeded out of the station.
Local resident Charlie Craven was heading to Parsons Green station in west London on his way to work when he heard a “massive bang” as the device detonated.
“The first thing I saw was an orange sort of fireball encompassing the whole Tube”, he told AFP, his hands still shaking.
“Bit like you see on 24, the TV show, or a movie sort of situation,” said Craven, who works in the City, London’s financial centre.
Lauren Hubbard also heard the explosion and said she saw that a “wall of fire was just coming towards us”.
“It’s hard to explain because it happens in an instant and you run. There were people in it of course, this fireball is just going over your head and everybody’s screaming and you just run out of the tube as quick as you can,” she said.
Twitter user @Rrigs, who posted pictures of a white bucket smouldering on the train, said a “Fireball flew down carriage and we just jumped out open door”.
The bucket looked like the type used by builders and there appeared to be cables coming out of it.
Twenty-people were injured in the attack — most with flash burns, according to police.
Others were injured in the stampede during chaotic scenes at the station.
“We were very, very lucky,” said Sally Faulding, a 51-year-old teacher who was on her way to work.
The explosion took place just as the train pulled into the station, she said, so “the doors opened automatically and everybody got out”.
Louis Hather, 21, was travelling three carriages along from where the explosion took place.
“People were being trampled on. I tried to get out of the way but I could feel myself getting pushed down the stairs,” he told AFP.
“I went back and got my stuff. I could smell the burning. Like when you burn plastic,” the IT security worker added.
Hather’s leg was cut and bruised in the stampede.
Emergency services arrived at the scene within minutes and quickly cordoned off a large area around the station located in an upper-class London borough.
Local residents and businesses rallied together with businesses offering tea and the use of their toilets to local residents unable to get home.
Local pizzeria Il Pagliaccio said it had set up a stall to hand out free pizzas to emergency workers.