Emergency services spokesman confirms explosion on bus in tavistock square, but not the cause. There is currently a rescue operation in a tunnel at king’s cross. Casualty figures cannot be confirmed at this time. All underground lines and national rail lines into London are closed. Advises people not to travel in London at the moment.
You mean “Damn straight Blair.” …I was just the reporter.
Re Swindon Station: “Multiple suspect packages.”
At the moment the feeling is they’re rightly erring on the side of caution, since Swindon is a major line signalling facility. Shutting the station has effectively shut down western mainline rail travel to and from London.
The east mainline is of course already closed. Word from Brighton is another “suspect package”, but of course that closure has crippled southern line rail routes too. London’s cut off, by rail at least.
Good grief…they’re showing a new pic of the bombed bus, from the front. The roof is bent in a U shape lengthwise and lying in front of the bus. The side panel is bent halfway off starting at the back. Looked like half of the top level seats were gone…
It’s a slightly higher angle on this picture, shown earlier:
Swindon update (radio report): Other buildings near the railway station have just been evacuated. A great deal of police activity, and two fire engines just rushed to the Station.
holy hell…am glad you chiffers are all fine!
Swindon update (local radio report): “A controlled explosion has been successfully carried out on a device on a train in Swindon station.”
Thanks for all the updates. This is a sad day for everyone. It does feel like 9/11. The awlful uncertainty of being in an urban place and wondering - was it just there? will it be here too? I’m guessing the train ride home tonight in Boston will be tense.
Be careful and stay safe.
I’m so glad that you all are ok…anyone find anything about Redwolf? Please be safe, everyone!
Thank you all for keeping us posted as well…my husband was telling me that a couple of people were killed, and I told him what Beth had said. It seems that our coverage is not very good (not that it surprises me).
Radio’s just confirmed that the Swindon ‘suspect device’ was aboard the Bristol to Paddington train. No-one hurt, thank God.
Goodness, Gary! That’s just too scary for words! How close are you to the station?
Reuters server is overloaded, no surprise. The MSNBC crawler is now saying at least 20 dead, 70 injuries, “according to one London TV station.”
A terrible tragedy.
I’m at the office at the moment, a goodly 8 miles or so away.
The main line runs past my estate (apartment block) though, and I can see the station building about 3/4 of a mile away as the crow flies from my living-room window.
The Bristol-Paddington service is an Intercity 125 HST, (125 miles an hour). You can imagine what might have happened if…
Just logged in to see if we had word from C&F London bureau. This is just sickening. If I live to be 10,000 years old, I will never be able to wrap my head around the kind of thinking that it is somehow morally acceptable to do this to innocent people who are doing nothing other than going to work and going about their lives.
I got a long email from my friend Norman Dannatt (with the Clarke company), who lives with his wife in Essex. We visited them in late 2003. His email is stamped just a very short time before the explosions. I’m sure I’ll hear from him when he has a moment.
from the BBC website just now:
An Islamist website has posted a statement - purportedly from al-Qaeda - claiming it was behind the attacks.
Bastards. 
Stay safe, Londoners.
Tony Blair has just taken off in a chopper headed for London. The police are confirming at least 150 seriously injured and two dead.
Glad all you guys are okay.
Be prepared for casualties to rise dramatically as they get to all the wrecks. Just horrible.
On the tv now is an unofficial estimate of fatalities: 40 and injured: 300…
The beeb says this picture has appeared on the net. It claims to show people trapped in the tube.
Mukade
Yup, that’s from a phone camera. It’s been shown on TV, as have a couple of phone videos.
Keep in mind that since there’s no phone signal while on the underground, the fact that that photo has surfaced implies that those people have gotten out.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4659489.stm
Photos 5 and 6 are the bus; photo 12 is the one from mukade above.