A blast on a London underground train on Friday morning left several commuters injured, panicked and disrupted service drawing heavy responses from police officers and emergency workers. The BBC, citing unnamed counterterrorism sources, said the blast was being treated as a terrorist attack.
Britain was hit by several terrorist attacks this year including a knife attack near Parliament, a suicide bombing at a rock concert in Manchester, and a van and knife attack around London Bridge. The terrorist violence has been the deadliest on British soil since 2005, when suicide bombers led explosions on three subway cars and a double-decker bus, killing 52 people and injuring many.
The attack raised concerns that militants might again target the Tube, the world’s oldest subway system. The blast happened at 8:20 am on a District Line train as it left the Parsons Green station.
“We have sent multiple resources to the scene including single responders in cars, ambulance crews, incident response officers and our hazardous area response team, with the first of our medics arriving in under five minutes,” Natasha Wills, assistant director of operations at the London Ambulance Service, said in a statement.
“Our initial priority is to assess the level and nature of injuries.”
Service on the District Line between Edgware Road and Wimbledon was canceled. London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, said he was keeping an eye on the situation.
