Parsons Green tube explosion: Bomb blast in London leaves 29 injured in terror attack

Explosion took place at Parsons Green tube
station in West ondon after 8am on Friday,
September 15
Officials said 29 people had been hospitalised
in the blast
ISIS have claimed responsibility for the attack
Police are still searching for one suspect and
have launched a major manhunt
Theresa May has condemned the "cowardly"
attack
Britain's terror threat level has been raised to
critical from severe
The explosion devastated the District line train, bound
for central London, which had just stopped at Parsons
Green station in west London at just gone 8am.
Emergency services including police, fire and
ambulance raced to the scene after the improvised
explosive device detonated in a carriage.
Witnesses said they saw a white "builder's bucket" in
a supermarket bag, and pictures online appeared to
show wires protruding from it on the floor of a
carriage. Reports suggested the device had a timer.
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An explosion in Parsons Green tube station has left
several injured - the object on the left erupted
Officials said 29 people had been hospitalised in the
explosion, which police are treating as a terror attack,
and witnesses described scenes of terror and panic as
the blast sent a "fireball" and a "wall of flame" through
the carriage.
At least one child was hurt after a photo emerged of a
schoolgirl with burned legs.
Almost half of the injured were hurt in a stampede
following the explosion. The rest suffered burns when
the homemade device exploded.
One witness, Richard Aylmer-Hall said: "I was blissfully
reading my paper and listening to a podcast and
suddenly the whole world charged past me down the
platform, down the Tube.
"There was panic, lots of people shouting, screaming,
lots of screaming.
"There was a woman on the platform who said she
had seen a bag, a flash and a bang, so obviously
something had gone off.
"It was an absolutely packed, rush-hour District Line
train from Wimbledon to Edgware Road.
"I saw crying women, there was lots of shouting and
screaming, there was a bit of a crush on the stairs
going down to the streets.
Parsons Green terror attack,
pictures from the scene
Fri, September 15, 2017
Shocking pictures after many people have been
injured after an explosion on Tube train at Parsons
Green, London
PLAY
Victim of the Parsons Green explosion [Twitter/
gacv80]
TWITTER/GACV80 1 of 52
"Some people got pushed over and trampled on, I saw
two women being treated by ambulance crews.
"Since then, every emergency vehicle in London has
gone past me, fire engines, ambulances, every type of
police vehicle.
"I don't think anyone was hurt by the actual device or
whatever it was."
Another passenger said: “I heard a really loud
explosion - when I looked back there appeared to be a
bag but I don't know if it's associated with it.
"I saw people with minor injuries, burnings to the face,
arms, legs, multiple casualties in that way.
"People were helping each other."
Ryan Barnett was caught up in the crush in the
stairwell of the Tube station. He heard of victims with
burn injuries and reported seeing some commuters
taking selfies on the platform.
Parsons Green attack: A woman is treated following
the Tube train explosion
Mr Barnett said: “I was sitting there, headphones in, at
Parsons Green, the doors open fine, I'm not really
paying attention and all of a sudden hundreds of
people run past me screaming a mixture of 'stampede',
'attack', 'terrorist', 'explosion', 'get off the train',
'everyone run'.
“Parsons Green station has a staircase at the front of
the carriage where the train pulls up - I'm running and
keeping my head down because there might be gunfire
and on to the staircase.
"But when I was on the staircase, the stewards and
other passengers, they are shouting 'stop, stop, stop',
so I ended up squashed on the staircase, people were
falling over, people fainting, crying, there were little
kids clinging on to the back of me.
"It is absolute chaos, it was quite scary because at
one stage we thought we might be trapped there - I
heard a pregnant woman lost her shoes and had fallen
over."
A third witness said she saw “blood on the floor” and
“people running down the stairs screaming 'get out’”.
Following the terrifying attack, Prime Minister Theresa
May chaired a meeting of the Government's Cobra
emergencies committee this afternoon at Downing
Street.
And she condemned the "cowardly" attack after
hosting a Cobra meeting to discuss the UK's next
steps, saying it involved a device "clearly intended to
cause significant harm".
The
Prime
Minister said the terror threat level would remain at
severe - meaning an attack is highly likely - but would
be kept under review as the investigation progresses.
She added there would be an increased armed police
presence on the transport network in London, saying:
"The police and the security services are obviously
doing all the work to discover the full circumstances
of this cowardly attack.”
But she also hit out at Donald Trump, after he lashed
out at Scotland Yard in the wake of the attack and
described the bomber as a “loser”.
He said: “Another attack in London by a loser
terrorist.These are sick and demented people who
were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be
proactive!
“Loser terrorists must be dealt with in a much tougher
manner.The internet is their main recruitment tool
which we must cut off & use better!”

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