IED blast rips through London metro in terror attack, scores suffer burn injuries

Pic Courtesy: Reuters

London: Over a dozen people suffered minor burn injuries on Friday when a powerful IED (improvised explosive device) was detonated on a packed underground tube which was stationed at West London's Parsons Green.

The police said they are probing the case as a terror attack.

Here are the latest updates:

- Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Mark Rowley said the blast was caused by an improvised device.

- Londoners can expect to see an enhanced police presence across transport systems today for reassurance, he added.

- Passengers on board the train fled as fire engulfed a carriage at Parsons Green underground station in West London at 8.20 am (0720 GMT).

- Some people suffered burns while others injured in a stampede to escape, witnesses said.

- The London ambulance service said it had taken 18 people to hospital, but said none were thought to be in a serious condition.

- Neil Basu, the senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism policing, declared it a terrorist incident.

- Prime Minister Theresa May will chair a meeting of Britain’s emergency response committee later on Friday, her office said.

- It is too early to confirm the cause of the fire, which will be subject to the investigation that is now underway by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, London police said in a statement.

- Pictures taken at the scene showed a white bucket with a supermarket freezer bag on the floor of one train carriage. The bucket was in flames and there appeared to be wires coming out of the top.

- PM Theresa May said in the statement on Friday: “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.”

- Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said people should “keep calm” and continue their lives as normal.

- Television footage showed passengers being escorted off a carriage while a Reuters witness saw armed police scouring a stationary train and a bomb disposal unit at the scene.

- The fire brigade said it had sent six engines and 50 firefighters and London Ambulance said it had sent “multiple resources” including its hazardous area response team to the scene.

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