A WALL OF FIRE IN TUBE TRAIN
22 injured in terror attack inside underground train
At least 22 people were injured after a bomb detonated on a packed London Underground train during the morning rush hour on Friday in what police are treating as a “terrorist incident”.
Witnesses reported seeing a “wall of fire” and passengers with facial burns and hair coming off at Parsons Green station in west London after the explosion on the train.
“At 8:20 this morning at Parsons Green station there was an explosion on a Tube train. We now assess that this was a detonation of an improvised explosive device,” police counter-terror chief Mark Rowley said.
Rowley said most of the injuries were due to “flash burns”, while others were wounded by the stampede as passengers ran out of the station in panic.
Twitter user @Rrigs, who posted pictures of a white bucket smouldering on the train, said: “Explosion on Parsons Green District Line train. 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.
One local resident, Charlie Craven, who was on his way to the station, said he heard a “massive bang”.
“I saw an orange sort of fireball encompassing the whole Tube coming towards you,” he said, describing it also as “a wall of fire”.
The National Health Service said 18 people were taken by ambulance to hospital, while four others made their own way to hospitals.
Louis Hather, 21, was travelling to work and was three carriages down from where the explosion took place.
“I could smell the burning. Like when you burn plastic,” he said.
Hather saw a woman with burns being stretchered off.
He was trampled on as passengers stampeded out of the station and his leg was badly cut and bruised. Sally Faulding, a 51-yearold teacher, said: “People were falling over each other.”
Richard Aylmer-Hall, 52, told the Press Association: “There was panic, lots of people shouting, screaming, lots of screaming”.
The London Ambulance Service said none of the victims “are thought to be in a serious or lifethreatening condition”.
The MI5 intelligence service is assisting investigators.
Prime Minister Theresa May said her thoughts were with the injured and emergency services had responded “swiftly and bravely”.
She will be chairing an emergency cabinet meeting later in the day.
Armed police and sniffer dogs could be seen on the train and around the station, which is set in a leafy suburb of southwest London popular with well-off commuters and filled with chic cafes.
The station was closed, as well as an entire section of the District Line where it is located and police urged people to stay away from the area.
Local residents and businesses rallied together with businesses offering tea and the use of their toilets to people unable to get home.
The incident is the fifth terror attack in six months in Britain since March, when a lone attacker mowed down pedestrians and stabbed a police officer outside the British parliament.
another attack in London by a loser terrorist... these are sick... people who were in the sights of scotland Yard. Donald Trump us President
this is a challenge which we all face... that’s why we’re united with Britain... with the people of Britain Angela Merkel, german chancellor
our thoughts are of course with the wounded, our thoughts are with the British population Edouard Philippe, French PM
as London has proven again and again, we will never be intimidated or defeated by terrorism Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London
the flash flame (in the blast) reported suggests that the explosion was only partly successful Prof. Hans Michels, explosive expert
I never think it’s helpful for anybody to speculate (US President Donald Trump’s claiming suspects were known to police) on what is an ongoing investigation