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Small blasts hit London transport

Iubitul Jul 21 2005 09:29 AM

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/07/21/london.tube/index.html ]Thursday, July 21, 2005; Posted: 9:22 a.m. EDT (13:22 GMT) LONDON, England (CNN) -- At least one person has been injured following reports of three small explosions on London's transport system, police say. The incidents came two weeks to the day since bombs on three Underground trains in London and a double-decker bus killed 56 people including four bombers. CNN's Matthew Chance said police told him a device exploded in or around Warren Street Tube station in the center of the British capital. The area around the station has been sealed off and the Bomb Squad is on the scene to check for other explosive devices. Transport Police told ITN there was an injury at Warren Street. There are no other reports of casualties. Scotland Yard is also reporting an incident on a bus at Hackney Road and Columbia Road in east London. A witness said the bus is still intact and a bomb-sniffing dog was on the scene. An explosion blew out the windows of a bus in the Hackney area of London on Thursday but there were no reports of injuries, bus operator Stagecoach said. "The driver heard a bang he believed came from the upper desk of the bus. The windows were blown out. There are no reports of any injuries," a Stagecoach spokesman said. Police said initially they were not treating the evacuations as a "major incident." A Scotland Yard spokesperson told CNN that Warren Street, Shepherds Bush and Oval stations had all been evacuated. London Underground confirmed that services on three lines -- Victoria, Northern and Hammermith and City -- were suspended following the incidents, according to PA. Ambulances were called to Oval station at 12:38 p.m. (7:38 a.m. ET), and sent three vehicles. At 12:45 p.m., a call came in from Warren Street. Five vehicles were sent there. The ambulance service had no details on the Shepherd's Bush station incident. Bryce Elder, a witness near the Shepherd's Bush station, said there was a heavy police presence but "no real sense of panic." Police helicopters flew overhead and areas near Shepherd's Bush station were evacuated. Elder said the station was not very busy. CNN London producer Katie Turner reported a heavy police presence near the Oval station, including about 30 police vehicles. Roads about 500 meters from the station have been blocked off to vehicular traffic, she said. Prime Minister Tony Blair postponed a planned photocall with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, on an official visit to the capital and planned to make a speech later Thursday. The White House said President George W. Bush has been informed of the incidents.

ScarletKnight41 Jul 21 2005 09:31 AM

Damn :(

Willets Point Jul 21 2005 10:01 AM

Fuckin' copycats! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4703777.stm That #26 bus must be one of those hearty old Routemasters.

Edgy DC Jul 21 2005 10:09 PM

How did all these detonators successively fail to detonate the explosives, after all were successful the previous time. Either a less competent fellow was on the job this time, a less detonable explosive was used, or (unlikely) the bombers themselves were saboutaged.

metirish Jul 21 2005 11:15 PM

That's the question that the London Police want answered, watching the BBC News tonight the speculation is that this was probably a "B Team" from the same Cell that did the 7/7 attack, one of the suicide bombers got knocked out cold when the divice exploded but not fully and after he came too he escaped, all four are now on the run. I would not be surprised if the police had scramblers of some sort in use, London was lucky this time.

Willets Point Jul 22 2005 12:24 AM

You think it's a b-team, or some copycats who didn't plan things out as well in advance? I'm leaning toward the latter.

Edgy DC Jul 22 2005 07:10 AM

What do you mean by scramblers. Some sort of broadcast signal that could interfere with the detonation?

metsmarathon Jul 22 2005 08:37 AM

the only type of broadcast that would stop a detonator would be a cell phone blocker, if they're using cell phones (call cell phone - when it rings, trigger pulse is sent to initiate detonator) as triggers like they do on IUD's in Iraq. the detonators all went off. apparently the explosives were defective, and did not go off. prolly were'nt mixed right, and were too insensitive to the blast from the detonators. (detonators are little explosive devises that are used to set off bigger explosives that are not so easy to set off. you can't just hook up wires to C4, or have a burning fuze, etc. you need a small explosion to trigger the stuff. teh detonator itself is triggered by an electrical impulse however) there's no electrical signal that can be transmitted that would prevent a detonator, once detonated, from initiating a properly mixed explosive.

seawolf17 Jul 22 2005 08:39 AM

Methinks marathon knows too much... (jk, mm)

Edgy DC Jul 22 2005 09:06 AM

Which is a better way of explaining why I'm scratching my head at the notion of "scramblers," though I'm still unsure of irish's meaning. On the other hand, I'm sure there's cutting-edge technology out there that even marathon is unaware of. I'd just be surprised that it would work so well.

metirish Jul 22 2005 09:26 AM

What do you mean by scramblers. Some sort of broadcast signal that could interfere with the detonation? yes something like that, pure speculation by me though, maybe a scrambler type signal that mess up the wiring and such on the exposives,perhaps I watch to many movies. Cops shoot dead man in tube. http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/story/0,16132,1534138,00.html

metsmarathon Jul 22 2005 11:23 AM

well, you woundt really wanna go screwing with the wiring, as you wouldnt want to risk accidentally triggering the things. also, watever would be powerful enough to fry the wiring of an IED would also kill off any laptops, PDAs and cellphones in the area as well. and while i'm certain that the world would be better off with a lot of dead blackberries, there are likely millions of people out ther who would disagree. and yes, i know too much. i have a graduate certificate in ordnance engineering, after all. (edited because i accidentally said IUD instead of IED. quite the subtle difference i must say. if i didnt think there were entertainment value to the above, i'd have just pretended like it never happened. but no. this is far more fun..)

Edgy DC Jul 22 2005 11:48 AM

I was scratching my head. Not that I doubt the government has devices that could transmit a signal that diasables an IUD. Meanwhile, the British authorities have released photos of the suspects in the recent bombings stillat large: Please please pleas tell me that's not a Mets trademarked pullover.

metirish Jul 22 2005 12:06 PM

thanks for the info metsmarathon, lets hope these guys are caught quickly.

metsmarathon Jul 22 2005 01:28 PM

thats pretty messed up that the one guy is wearing a "New York" sweatshirt. maybe its "yankees"

metirish Jul 22 2005 01:33 PM

BREAKING NEWS Man arrested in Stockwell area of London in connection with Thursday's attempted bombings, police say. Details soon.