Blast in London metro train, passengers report burn injuries, service suspended

Metro services between busy Earls Court and Wimbledon on the District Line have been suspended after the blast.| WATCH LIVE

 

Reuters  | Edited by Shashank Shantanu
London, September 15, 2017 | UPDATED 14:36 IST
London metro blastA white container exploded inside London Metro train injuring a few passengers. (Photo/Twitter@alanmendoza)

Highlights

  • 1
    Blast in London metro train.
  • 2
    Passengers report facial burn injuries.
  • 3
    Blast reported at Parsons Green station in West London.

Armed police rushed to an incident at a London underground station on Friday with local media reporting there had been an explosion on a packed rush-hour commuter train.

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Emergency services said they had been called to reports of an incident on a train at Parsons Green station in West London at 8.20 am (0720 GMT) but had no further details of what had happened.

The Metro newspaper reported that passengers had suffered facial burns from a blast and others had been hurt in a subsequent stampede.

"I was on second carriage from the back. I just heard a kind of whoosh. I looked up and saw the whole carriage engulfed in flames making its way towards me," a man who was on the train told Reuters.

Outside the station, a woman was sitting on a pavement with a bandage around her leg, while armed police patrolled. A Reuters witness saw a woman being carried off on a stretcher with her legs covered in a foil blanket.

"We are aware of an incident at #ParsonsGreen tube station. Officers are in attendance," London police said on Twitter. "We would advise people to avoid the area."

STAMPEDE AFTER BLAST

A woman at London's Parsons Green underground train station told Reuters on Friday she was injured in a stampede.

"We have sent multiple resources to the scene including single responders in cars, ambulance crews, incident response officers and our hazardous area response team," the London Ambulance Service said on Twitter.

An unverified picture circulating on social media showed a white bucket in a supermarket freezer bag with what appeared to be wires coming out of the top on the floor of one train carriage.

Police said they were aware of reports on social media and said they would release facts regarding the incident once they could be sure of their accuracy.

A Reuters witness could see a bomb disposal unit at the scene while the fire brigade said it had sent six engines and 50 firefighters. London Ambulance said it had sent "multiple resources" including its hazardous area response team to the scene.

"Our initial priority is to assess the level and nature of injuries," it said.

Transport for London said on Twitter there was no service on the western part of the District Line which runs through Parsons Green.

FOUR TERROR ATTACKS IN LONDON THIS YEAR

Britain has suffered four attacks blamed on terrorists so far this year which killed 36 people. In 2005, 52 people were killed when four British Islamists carried out suicide bomb attacks on three London underground trains and a bus.

WATCH: One of the terrorists responsible for London attacks said to be of Pakistani origin: Reports