Police in UK arrest bombing suspect at Dover Port, manhunt continues
Friday attack wounds 30 on train in London tube • Soldiers guard nuclear plants
LONDON (Reuters) – British police arrested an 18-year-old man in the Port of Dover and raided a house in a small town outside London on Saturday, as they hunted for whoever planted a bomb on a commuter train that wounded 30 people a day earlier.
Prime Minister Theresa May put Britain on the highest security level of “critical” late on Friday, meaning another attack may be imminent, and deployed soldiers and armed police to strategic locations such as nuclear plants and defense sites.
In what authorities called a “very significant” development, officers arrested a man at about 7:50 a.m. in Dover, from where passenger ferries sail to France. Five hours later, they raided a property in Sunbury, a commuter town southwest of London, and evacuated nearby premises as a precaution.
Reuters photographs showed police cordons in a modest suburban street in Sunbury, in the county of Surrey, around 18 km. from Parsons Green where the bomb exploded.
“This is a very significant arrest. The police have made very good progress but the operation is ongoing,” said Home Secretary Amber Rudd, adding that the threat level remained at “critical.”
“There is no doubt that this was a serious IED [improvised explosive device] and it was good fortune that it did so little damage.”
Police are keeping an open mind on whether more than one person was responsible for the attack.
“We are still pursuing numerous lines of inquiry, and at a great pace,” Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing Neil Basu told reporters.
“Our priorities are... to identify and locate any other potential suspects,” he said.
In what was the fifth major terrorist attack in Britain this year, the home-made bomb shot flames through a packed commuter train during the Friday morning rush hour in West London, but apparently failed to detonate fully.
Islamic State claimed responsibility.
According to media reports, the bomb was attached to a timer, unlike other recent blasts that have typically been suicide bombs.
Pictures showed a slightly charred white plastic bucket with wires coming out of the top in a supermarket shopping bag on the floor of a train carriage.
The Parsons Green station where the attack took place reopened by Saturday morning.
Armed police patrolled the streets of London near government departments in Westminster and were guarding Premier League soccer grounds which were hosting matches on Saturday, including the national stadium at Wembley.
The last time Britain was put on “critical” alert was after a suicide bomber killed 22 people at a concert by the American singer Ariana Grande in Manchester in May.
The threat level remained at the highest setting for four days while police raced to establish if the man had worked alone or with the help of others. Before that, it had not been triggered since 2007.
May said the public should not be alarmed by armed officers on the streets, a rare sight in Britain.
The bomb struck as passengers were traveling to the center of the British capital. Some suffered burns and others were injured in a stampede to escape from the station, one of the above-ground stops on the Underground network. Health officials said no one was thought to be in a serious condition. •