London Underground blast LIVE UPDATES: Officials identify suspect, police say IED used in attack

London Underground blast live updates: "We now assess that this was a detonation of an improvised explosive device," Britain's top counter-terrorism officer Mark Rowley said on Friday. London's police is being supported by Britain's MI5 intelligence service, he said. 

By: Express Web Desk | New Delhi | Updated: September 15, 2017 8:53 pm
london, london attack, london terror attack, london blast, london underground, london underground blast, parsons green tube station, london explosion, parsons green station, london explosion train, london tube train explosion Emergency services attend the scene outside Parsons Green station in west London after a terrorist attack in London, Friday, Sept. 15, 2017. The incident is being treated as a terrorist incident, after a bucket wrapped in an insulated bag caught fire on a packed London subway train early Friday, sending commuters running for safety at the height of the morning rush hour. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

In an explosion on an underground train at a busy Parsons Green station in London on Friday left several commuters injured in what the Scotland Yard described as a “terrorist incident”. The incident occurred during rush hour on a District Line Tube train as it pulled into Parsons Green station. Several people are said to have suffered facial burns after the blast in a bucket towards the rear of the District Line train. Some commuters reportedly were trampled and suffered crush injuries in the rush to escape.

Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism squad, SO15, arrived at the scene at Parsons Green Tube station and took the lead in the investigation from the British Transport Police. Downing Street said Prime Minister Theresa May was “receiving regular updates” on the situation.

Here are the live updates:

08.30 pm: British security services have identified a suspect involved in the bombing of a busy commuter train in west London with the help of surveillance footage, Sky News reported, citing security sources. “Security sources say they’ve identified a suspect involved in the Parsons Green bombing, with the aid of CCTV footage,” Mark White, a home affairs correspondent for Sky News, said on Twitter.

08.00 pm: Theresa May dismissed the speculative tweet from Trump that claimed Scotland Yard had the so-called “bucket bomber” in terror attack on a London Underground train in their “sights”. “I never think it’s helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation,” May said. “As I have said the police and security services are working to discover the full circumstances of this cowardly attack and to identify all those responsible,” she said.

06.30 pm: “There is no service High Street Kensington – Edgware Road while the police respond to an incident,” according to a message posted on the official Twitter feed of London’s District line.

06.20 pm: 

 

06.00 pm: British counter-terrorism officers are making “fast-time inquiries” to establish who was behind london metro attack, said police

05.50 pm: Taking to Twitter the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, tweeted, “Our thoughts are with our friends in #London this morning. Transit system security will be heightened today out of an abundance of caution.”

05.40 pm: British counter-terrorism officers are making “fast-time inquiries” to establish who was behind London metro attack, said police

05.30 pm: Today and over the weekend you can expect to see a heightened police presence, particularly in crowded place, officer Mark Rowley

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley speaks to the media outside New Scotland Yard, giving a statement about the investigation following a terrorist attack at Parsons Green subway station, London. (Source: AP photo)

05. 20 pm: Services remain affected on District Line following the incident. Plan and check ahead before travelling, said British Transport Police

05.10 pm: 

05.00 pm: 22 people injured in London Underground terror attack: National Health Service (AFP)

04.50 pm: “We now assess that this was a detonation of an improvised explosive device,” Britain’s top counter-terrorism officer Mark Rowley said on Friday. London’s police is being supported by Britain’s MI5 intelligence service, he said.

04.40 pm: Device used in explosion at London metro station had a timer, said BBC, not citing its source

04.30 pm: President Donald Trump called the explosion at London underground station another attack by a “loser terrorist”

 

 

04.20 pm: Rachel Green, 18, was working in a coffee shop outside Parsons Green station when she heard the explosion. “We heard a bang and then we realised there were many distressed people leaving the station. We went to console them. There were over 100 – women coming out without shoes, battered and bruised, and they’d left their handbags behind. There was talk of a fire. Two people came in to the shop with their clothes burnt off, who said they saw a fire coming towards them. There were mothers with babies, it was the school rush time. I’m really shocked – this is a quiet family-friendly area,” she told the BBC.

04.10 pm: AC Mark Rowley speaks following the incident at Parsons Green tube station

04.00 pm: The device used during an incident at a London metro station on Friday did not fully detonate, Sky News reported, citing unnamed sources.

3.50 pm: London ambulance service said they have taken 18 patients to hospital after the underground incident. However, none of them are thought to be in a life threatening or serious condition.

3.40 pm: The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, in a Facebook post 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.”

3.30 pm: Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism squad, SO15, arrived at the scene at Parsons Green Tube station and took the lead in the investigation from the British Transport Police.

An injured woman is assisted by a police officer close to Parsons Green station in west London after an explosion on a packed London Underground train, Friday, Sept. 15, 2017. London’s Metropolitan Police says a fire on the London subway has been declared a “terrorist incident.” (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

3.20 pm: Prime Minister Theresa May will chair a meeting of Britain’s emergency response committee today following the incident, her office said in a statement. “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 said in the statement. The meeting of COBR, the emergency response committee, will take place at 1200 GMT.

British PM Theresa May, Theresa May, N Korea Missile Test, North Korea Missile Test, China, North Korea Pressure, World News, Latest World News, Indian Express, Indian Express News British Prime Minister Theresa May

3.10 pm: British Prime Minister Theresa May has reacted to the incident. “My thoughts are with those injured at Parsons Green and emergency services who are responding bravely to this terrorist incident,” the official Twitter handle of UK PM tweeted.

3.05 pm: In a tweet, London city police force said the counter-terrorism unit is investigating the scene.

2.55 pm: Citing unnamed counter-terrorism sources, BBC reported that the British authorities are treating the incident at Parsons Green metro station as terrorism.

2.50 pm: “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.

2.45 pm: British Prime Minister Theresa May’s office has said that the leader is “receiving regular updates” on the incident, Reuters reported.

2.40 pm: British Counter-terrorism officers have reached the metro station to investigate the scene of crime. Service on the western part of the District Line have have been suspended.

2.30 pm: London Fire Brigade have also reached on the spot. They have two fire rescue units and around 50 firefighters at Parsons Green station, Reuters reported.

london explosion, parsons green station, london explosion train, london tube train explosion, london underground explosion, latest news, london news Emergency services attend the scene following a blast on an underground train at Parsons Green tube station in West London, Britain September 15, 2017, in this image taken from social media. (Reuters)

2.25 pm: Police vehicles have lined the street near Parsons Green tube station. The British Police has asked people to avoid the area near Parsons Green. “Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service and British Transport Police are in attendance along with the London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service,” London’s police said in a statement.

london explosion, parsons green station, london explosion train, london tube train explosion, london underground explosion, latest news, london news Police vehicles line the street near Parsons Green tube station in London, Britain September 15, 2017. (Reuters)

2.20 pm: Eyewitnesses told Reuters that flames engulfed one carriage and raced along a train on a west London route to Parsons Green, forcing passengers to trample others as they rushed for an exit.

2.00 pm: The BBC reports, quoting its London presenter Riz Lateef who was at the station, that people were left with injuries as they were trying to move away from the site. “There was panic as people rushed from the train, hearing what appeared to be an explosion” “People were left with cuts and grazes from trying to flee the scene. There was lots of panic.”

1.55 pm: Natasha Wills, Assistant Director of Operations at London ambulance Service said that they were called at 8.20 am to reports of an incident at Parsons Green Underground station.

© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd