Parsons Green terror attack: manhunt for bomber who set off device on packed Tube train, causing 'fireball' which left 29 injured

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A manhunt was under way today for the bomber who detonated an improvised explosive device in a terror attack on a rush-hour Tube train.

Twenty-two passengers were in hospital today after the explosion sent a “fireball” through the carriages.

Police and MI5 were searching for one or two potential bombers after the device detonated on a District line service at Parsons Green station.

Witnesses reported seeing people “covered in blood” after a “flash and a bang” in the last carriage at about 8.20am. Pictures posted on social media appeared to show wires protruding from a flaming bucket inside a plastic carrier bag on the train floor.

Met assistant commissioner Mark Rowley, speaking outside New Scotland Yard, said there were “many urgent inquiries”, with “hundreds of detectives” analysing CCTV and forensic evidence and interviewing witnesses.

A woman is comforted by police during the incident
Reuters

He said: “We now assess this was a detonation of an improvised explosive device.” In a series of developments:

The bomb is believed to have had a timer. It is thought the device failed to “fully detonate”.

There were unconfirmed reports of a “second device” and that a knifeman was seen running from the scene.

US president Donald Trump claimed the suspected terrorist was “in the sights of Scotland Yard”.

Theresa May was holding a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee. Sadiq Khan condemned the “hideous individuals” behind the attack.

Parsons Green explosion incident on the Tube - In pictures

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Armed officers surrounded a No 360 bus near Chelsea Bridge.

Children were evacuated from Kensington Prep School, which is inside the police cordon, at about 11.15am.

The investigation was being led by the Met’s counter-terrorism command. The trauma centre at St Mary’s hospital, Paddington, declared a major incident. At least 10 people were understood to have suffered “flash burns”. Others were injured in a crush as passengers tried to flee the west London station. None of the injured were said by London Ambulance Service to be in a “serious or life-threatening condition”.

A woman is led to safety after the incident (PA)
Dominic Lipinski/PA

The explosion happened as the Edgware Road-bound train from Wimbledon pulled in to Parsons Green. Shuchen Warner, a teacher travelling to work from Caterham, said: “There was a surge of fire. I heard a woman screaming. A fireball came down the train. People were running and screaming. I heard a loud bang, there was panic and shock. A woman’s hair was burned — it was terrible. People ran, I fell to the floor... it was like a nightmare.” Some people fled down the tracks. Hundreds of passengers, including babies and children on their way to school, were caught up in the attack.

The bucket is seen in flames on a Tube train
Sylvian Pennec/Reuters

At about 11am, armed police surrounded a single-decker No 360 bus two miles away on Chelsea Bridge. Mr Khan said: “Our city utterly condemns the hideous individuals who attempt to use terror to harm us and destroy our way of life. As London has proven again and again, we will never be intimidated or defeated by terrorism.”

Emergency services at the scene
@LondonFire

Mr Trump tweeted: “Another attack in London by a loser terrorist. These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard.” The Met refused to respond. London Fire Brigade sent six fire engines, two fire rescue units and about 50 firefighters and specialist officers. The District line was suspended between Wimbledon and Earl’s Court.

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