London Underground Explosion Declared Terrorism
Impacting Travel Brian Simpson September 15, 2017
London’s Metropolitan Police have declared the explosion, which occurred on a London Underground train during Friday’s rush hour, as a terrorist incident.
The attack, which took place on the last car of an eastbound train at Parsons Green station, was the result of the detonation of a crude, home-made bomb or IED, which only partly blew up, according to The Guardian.
22 people were injured in the attack with 19 taken to hospital, mainly suffering from flash burns.
“At 820 this morning, at Parsons Green tube station, there was an explosion on a tube train.” said Mark Rowley, assistant commissioner for Specialist Operations of the Metropolitan Police in London. “Police have attended. We now assess that this was a detonation of an Improvised Explosive Device.”
SO15, Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command, will lead the investigation, supported by the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency, MI5.
An image widely shared on social media, shows a burning bag and white bucket inside the train.
Explosion on Parsons Green district line train. Fireball flew down carriage and we just jumped out open door. pic.twitter.com/pGbfotbfsJ
— Rigs (@RRigs) September 15, 2017
British Prime Minister Elizabeth May said that they would not be raising the threat level from ‘severe’ at this time. The threat level of severe means that while an attack is highly likely, there is no specific evidence or intelligence that would suggest that an attack is imminent.
“This was a device intended to cause significant harm,” the prime minister said and condemned the attack as “cowardly”.
“My thoughts are with those injured at Parsons Green and the emergency services who, once again, are responding swiftly and bravely to a suspected terrorist incident.” May continued.
In a tweet from Ralph Goodale, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and retweeted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Minister said that “The courageous people of Britain will never be intimidated by terrorism”.
The courageous people of Britain will never be intimidated by terrorism. Our thoughts are w/ the victims + 1st responders!
— Ralph Goodale (@RalphGoodale) September 15, 2017
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump tweeted, suggesting that the terrorists were known to Scotland Yard, drawing a sharp rebuke from May, telling the BBC, “I never think it’s helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation.”
London Police also said in a statement that “Any speculation is extremely unhelpful at this time.”
The station remains closed at this time and police have advised people to avoid the area.
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