http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/story/0,16132,1533382,00.html 1.45pm update
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alert at London tube stations and bus Staff and agencies Thursday July 21, 2005 Emergency services were scrambling to locations around London today after reports of explosions at three tube stations and on a bus. Services on three London Underground lines were suspended today after incidents at three tube stations. There are no reports of casualties at this stage, but emergency services are responding to reports of incidents at Oval tube station in south London, Warren Street in central London and Shepherd's Bush Emergency services have also responded to reports of an incident on a No 26 bus in Hackney Road, junction near Columbia Road, east London, Scotland Yard said. British Transport police said all of the stations were being evacuated. Sofiane Mohellavi, 35, was travelling from Oxford Circus to Walthamstow when he was evacuated from a train at Warren Street. "I was in the carriage and we smelt smoke - it was like something was burning. "Everyone was panicked and people were screaming. We had to pull the alarm. I am still shaking. "We pulled into Warren Street and were evacuated. It was horrible," she told the Press Assocation. Victoria Line passenger Ivan McCracken claimed a traveller's rucksack had exploded on the Tube outside Warren Street station. He told Sky News: "I was in a middle carriage and the train was not far short of Warren Street station when suddenly the door between my carriage and the next one burst open and dozens of people started rushing through. Some were falling, there was mass panic. "It was difficult to get the story from any of them what had happened but when I got to ground level there was an Italian young man comforting an Italian girl who told me he had seen what had happened. "He said that a man was carrying a rucksack and the rucksack suddenly exploded. It was a minor explosion but enough to blow open the rucksack. "The man then made an exclamation as if something had gone wrong. At that point everyone rushed from the carriage." Mr McCracken said he smelled smoke but did not see any injured passengers. Police said the first incident was reported at 12.54pm. London Underground said they had suspended services on three lines as a result of the incidents. A spokeswoman said: "We are responding to reports of incidents at Warren Street and the Oval. There are no reports of any casualties at this stage. We have suspended three lines, the Hammersmith & City, Victoria and Northern." Downing Street said that given the uncertainty over events, the prime minister, Tony Blair, had cancelled a visit to a school in east London this afternoon, at which he, the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, and Lord Coe had been due to publicise the second reading of the Olympics bill. The London mayor, Ken Livingstone, cancelled a visit this afternoon to the Family Assistance Centre set up to help victims of the July 7 blasts in light of the current Tube incidents, a spokeswoman from Westminster Council confirmed. On July 7, two weeks ago today 56 people died when four suicide bombers attacked three tube stations and a bus in the capital. The Metropolitan police have warned of a risk of further attacks. -- Cheers, Gabe Menezes. London, England
