On Friday morning at 8:20 an explosion on an underground train in the Parsons Green area of London caused mass panic and a “stampede” as frightened passengers attempted to evacuate the train carriages and exit the station.
Pictures of a flaming white bucket, inside a shopping bag trailing wires were widely circulated on social media. Witnesses spoke of seeing a wall of fire after an explosion which sent people trampling over one another to exit the train. 30 people were taken to hospital for injuries from the fire and the stampede, but there were no fatalities. The explosion seems to have come from the crude device’s timer but the BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardener said that the bomb itself appeared not to have gone off properly. He added that if it had worked as intended, “it would have killed everyone around it and maimed everyone in the carriage for life”.
On Saturday morning police arrested an 18 year old man in Dover which lead to them raiding an address in Sunbury at 13:40 the same afternoon. Residents in the area were evacuated as heavily armed officers moved in to search the property.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, who is the Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, said in a statement: “We have made a significant arrest in our investigation this morning. Although we are pleased with the progress made, this investigation continues and the threat level remains at critical.”
Theresa May ordered troops onto the streets on Friday night and the raised the terror threat to critical after advice from the independent Joint Terrorism Assessment Centre. “Critical” means another attack is expected.
Donald Trump’s comments on Twitter shortly after the attack suggested that the suspect was “in the sights of Scotland Yard” (twitter) and that UK security forces were not being proactive or tough enough. Ms. May responded with a rebuke saying, “I never think it’s helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation.” The Prime Minister condemned the “cowardly” attack, saying it involved a device “clearly intended to cause significant harm”.
Islamic State have claimed responsibility for the attack but the Met’s Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said it was “very routine” for the Islamic State group to claim the attack, whether they were involved or not.
