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On Thursday 7 July 2005 a series of four bomb explosions struck London's transport system during the morning rush hour. Three London Underground trains were hit within half an hour, and a London Bus was hit 30 minutes later. At least 50 people were reported dead with the number of injured reported as high as 700 (with 22 of these in a serious or critical condition).

The incidents led to the complete shutdown of the London Underground network and the closure of many roads near the affected stations. Mainline train services into many London stations terminated outside the city for most of the day, and the city's bus network was shut down in the central zone (Zone 1).

Metropolitan Police Service Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said that explosions were probably the result of a "major terrorist attack" but did not speculate on any group or groups involved. The bombings came while the UK hosted the first full day of the 31st G8 summit at Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire, and a day after London was chosen to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The incident was the deadliest single act of terrorism within the United Kingdom since the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie (in which 270 people died).

Bombings

Home Secretary Charles Clarke told the House of Commons that four blasts had been confirmed: three explosions took place on the London Underground in central London and one on a double-decker bus during London's rush hour. Each explosion was caused by a bomb comprising up to 10 lbs of high explosive, placed on the floors of the train carriages and bus. The Underground attacks were detonated by timers while the bus attack may have involved either a suicide bomber or the bomb may have been accidentally detonated, although the police stated that they have so far found no positive evidence of a suicide bombing.

There were also unconfirmed reports that two other unexploded package bombs were found on the trains. These were later explained by the police as being suspect packages that were destroyed using controlled explosions, but turned out not to be additional bombs.

Attack on the underground network

• 08:51 — A bomb explodes on a Circle Line sub-surface underground train between Liverpool Street and Aldgate. The explosion took place 100 yards into the tunnel on the third carriage of the train.
• 08:56 — A bomb explodes on a Piccadilly Line deep-level underground train between King's Cross St. Pancras and Russell Square. The explosion took place on the first carriage of the train by the first set of double doors, causing severe damage to the surrounding tunnel as well.
• 09:17 — A bomb explodes on the second carriage of a Circle Line sub-surface underground train at Edgware Road. The explosion on the train destroys a wall separating two tunnels causing the wall to collapse onto a train on an adjoining platform.

There were fewer explosions than first thought, since some blasts occurred on trains that were between stations. The wounded emerged from both stations, giving the impression that there were incidents at each.

Attack on a double-decker bus

• 09:47 — An explosion occurs on a No. 30 double-decker bus travelling its route from Marble Arch to Hackney. At the time of the explosion the bus was following a planned diversion from its normal route and travelling through Tavistock Square. The explosion ripped the roof off the top deck of the vehicle and destroyed the back of the bus.

The detonation took place close to the British Medical Association (BMA) building on Upper Woburn Place, and a number of doctors in the building were able to provide immediate emergency medical assistance. BBC Radio 5 and The Sun newspaper later reported that two injured bus passengers said that they saw a man exploding in the bus. One passenger who disembarked from the bus at the stop prior to the explosion reported seeing an agitated young man who kept dipping into his bag every few moments, giving an indication of a possible intentional suicide bombing.

Casualties

Senior official sources have confirmed that more than 50 people have been killed. However, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair told reporters that the authorities were having "great difficulty" determining the death toll. At least one blast site remains inaccessible to the police. As a result, Blair said, the death toll is expected to rise, but should not reach 100. The bombings were the deadliest attack in London since Second World War and the second most deadly peacetime terrorist attack in the United Kingdom, after Lockerbie which killed 270 people. Other terrorist attacks on the UK include the 1998 Omagh bombing which killed 29 people, the 1974 Birmingham pub bombing which killed 21 and the 1999 London nail bombings which killed 3 people.

At least 90 injuries were reported from Aldgate Station alone. Ninety-five of the injured were taken by bus to the Royal London Hospital where they were treated; seventeen were in critical condition. Many others were being treated at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington. Individuals who were wounded and walking were treated at the scene; an eyewitness reported that they were “operating on injured people on the concourse at Liverpool Street station.” Paramedics were sent down into the tube system to search for more casualties. St. John Ambulance was called out to assist the London Ambulance Service, and hospitals had to call in off-duty staff, plus doctors from as far afield as Hampshire and Oxfordshire.

At a press conference on 8 July it was revealed that of 700 people injured in the explosions, 350 were treated on the spot, 350 people (208 at Royal London Hospital alone ) were treated in hospital and 100 of them were kept in hospital overnight. 22 were in a serious or critical condition, and one person subsequently died. Many of the injured were foreign nationals, causing some language difficulties in the hospitals.

Cause

Initial reports: power surge

The first reports suggested that a power surge in the Underground power grid had caused explosions in power circuits. However, this was later ruled out by the National Grid, the power suppliers. Commentators suggested that the explanation had arisen because of bomb damage to power lines along the tracks; the rapid series of power failures caused by the explosions looked similar, from the point of view of a control room operator, to a cascading series of circuit breaker operations that would result from a major power surge. One eyewitness reported:

I was in the midst of this when it happened. The Metropolitan line was halted, then the Jubilee. The train driver announced a "power surge on the combine", which is probably a prearranged message to prevent panic in an emergency. Trains were then brought into the nearest station and the passengers requested to evacuate. The tube staff were very calm and efficient, and I didn't see any panic. There was definitely a sense that something unusual had happened, and people were mostly silent as we filed out to the sound of recorded evacuation messages.

The London Metropolitan Police Chief, Sir Ian Blair, stated that he believed that the explosions were "probably a major terrorist attack". He also indicated that police had found indications of explosives at one of the blast sites, though he would not speculate on who might have carried out the attack.

Claim of responsibility

At approximately 11:10 UTC 7 July 2005, BBC News reported that a website known to be operated by associates of Al-Qaeda had been located with a 200 word statement claiming responsibility for the attacks. German online news magazine Spiegel Online (website of magazine Der Spiegel) and BBC Monitoring have both reported that a group named ‘Secret Organisation – Al-Qaeda in Europe’ had posted an announcement claiming responsibility on the Al-Qal3ah (The Castle) forums. The announcement claims the attacks are a response due to the British involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. The letter also warned other governments involved in Iraq (mentioning specifically Denmark and Italy) to leave Iraq and Afghanistan. A Saudi commentator in London, however, noted that the Arabic of the statement was grammatically poor, and that a Qur'anic quotation was incorrect, which was not typical of Al-Qaeda.

The attacks bear similarities to the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings and suggest an attack in the style of Al-Qaeda, security analysts said. “The first thing that's very obvious is the synchronized nature of the attacks, and that's pretty classic for Al-Qaeda or Al-Qaeda-related organizations,” Budapest‐based security analyst Sebestyén Gorka told Reuters.

Al-Qaeda involvement is considered likely, as it follows their pattern:

• bombs were detonated essentially simultaneously
• no warnings were given by the perpetrators
• the bombs were detonated early in the day to catch the news
• the bombs were detonated at a time and location designed to inflict maximum death and injury to a civilian population

Translated statement

On 7 July, a person using the name ‘Nur al-Iman’ and identified as a ‘new guest,’ posted to Qal3ah with a statement issued by ‘The Secret Organisation Group of Al-Qa'ida of Jihad Organisation in Europe.’ In the statement, the group claims responsibility for the London ‘raid.’ The following is a translated text of the statement:

In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate, may peace be upon the cheerful one and undaunted fighter, Prophet Muhammad, God's peace be upon him.

Nation of Islam and Arab nation: Rejoice for it is time to take revenge against the British Zionist crusader government in retaliation for the massacres Britain is committing in Iraq and Afghanistan. The heroic mujahideen have carried out a blessed raid in London. Britain is now burning with fear, terror and panic in its northern, southern, eastern, and western quarters.

We have repeatedly warned the British government and people. We have fulfilled our promise and carried out our blessed military raid in Britain after our mujahideen exerted strenuous efforts over a long period of time to ensure the success of the raid.

We continue to warn the governments of Denmark and Italy and all the crusader governments that they will be punished in the same way if they do not withdraw their troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. He who warns is excused.

God says: "If ye will aid (the cause of) God, He will aid you, and plant your feet firmly"
USC parallel Qur'an (Translation of Yusuf Ali)

One translator from US network MSNBC expressed scepticism at the legitimacy of this claim, claiming there is a "mistake" in the quoted verse from the Qur'an. The verse, as quoted in the letter, is missing the beginning of the original Qur'anic verse, which begins with "Ya ayyuhal Lathee (O you who believe!)." That is to say, the verse is quoted only partially, which may or may not be a mistake.

Issues

Some news stories current a few hours after the attacks raised a query over the official position that there had been no warning or prior intelligence. It was reported on CBS News that a senior Israeli official said that British police told the Israeli Embassy in London minutes before the explosions that they had received warnings of possible terror attacks in the city. An Associated Press report carried on a number of news sites, including The Guardian, attributed the initial report of a warning to an Israeli "Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity," but added Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom's later denial on Israel Army Radio: "There was no early information about terrorist attacks." A similar report on the site of right-wing Israeli paper Israel National News / Arutz Sheva attributed the story to "Army Radio quoting unconfirmed reliable sources."

Investigation

Police are examining CCTV footage and forensic evidence from the scenes of the attacks, looking for, among other things, DNA evidence.

In a press conference at 11:00 on 8 July, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair revealed that all four bombs were probably less than ten pounds of high explosive, probably placed on the floor of the trains, and either on the floor or on a seat of the bus. There was no evidence that the bombings were suicide attacks. At that time, the death total was described as "50 plus", but not all remains had yet been removed from the train at Russell Square because of fears of possible damage to the structure of the tunnel, and the number of people killed on the bus is still undetermined.

Response

There were many responses to the attacks from around the world. See: Response to the 2005 London bombings.

Impacts

Security alerts

Although there were security alerts at many locations, no other terrorist activities occurred outside central London.

Security alerts were reported at Brighton, Luton, and Swindon as well as other locations. In Brighton there was a controlled explosion of a suspicious briefcase at approximately 12:55 local time in a telephone box outside Brighton station. The briefcase was later found to be harmless, and the station was re‐opened. East Croydon station was closed due to a suspect package, but was later re‐opened. There were reports of Victoria Station being cordoned off by police amid reports of a ‘suspicious package’ on a bus near the station.

There were reports of a controlled explosion at Coventry bus station, as well as two controlled explosions carried out on a Lothian Buses double‐decker on Princes Street in the centre of Edinburgh at around 17:30 BST; neither contained explosives.

In Poole, the train station was also closed in response to the discovery of a suspicious package. Staff and customers were locked in the supermarket building opposite. The package was later detonated by Police in a controlled explosion.

There were bomb scares in Sheffield City Centre, and in Nottingham City Centre, with Market Square being sealed off at 22:00 BST.

Transport and telecoms disruption

Vodafone reported that its mobile phone network reached capacity at about 10:00 on the day of the incident, and it was forced to initiate emergency procedures to prioritise emergency calls (ACCOLC). Other mobile phone networks have also reported failures. The BBC had speculated that the phone system has been closed by the security services to prevent the possibility of mobile phones being used to trigger bombs. Although this option was in fact considered, it was later revealed that the intermittent unavailability of both mobile and landline phone systems was merely due to excessive usage.

For most of the day, London's mass transit system was effectively paralysed, significantly because of the complete closure of the underground system and the Zone 1 closure of the bus networks, as well as evacuation of Russell Square. Bus services restarted at 16.00 the same day, and much of the underground aside from the affected stations restarted the next morning.

Economic impact

There were limited immediate economic effects, as measured by financial market activity. The pound fell 0.89 cents to a 19‒month low against the US dollar. Stock markets fell less than some had feared.

The FTSE 100 Index fell by about 200 points in the two hours after the first attack. This was its biggest fall since the start of the Iraq war. However, by the time it closed the market had recovered to just 71.3 points (1.36%) down on the previous day's three‐year closing high. Markets in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain also closed about 1% down on the day.

US market indexes actually rose slightly during the day, possibly because the dollar index rose sharply against the European currencies.

Security status

Prime Minister of France Dominique de Villepin announced that France had increased its level of terror alert to red, the second‐highest level, in response to the events in London. Meanwhile, Berlin transport officials indicated that security alert levels for the public transport system of the German capital had been raised to yellow, the second of four levels.

In the United States, the Department of Homeland Security has raised the terror alert level to orange specifically for mass transit.

Timeline

All times are in British Summer Time (BST) which is 1 hour ahead of UTC (UTC+1 / GMT+1).

• 08:51: Initial reports of an incident between Liverpool Street and Aldgate tube stations, either an explosion or a collision between trains. The reports from the two stations were initially thought to relate to two separate incidents.
• 08:56: Explosion on train between Kings' Cross and Russell Square. Eyewitnesses report explosion appeared to come from outside the train.
• 09:17: Explosion on train at Edgware Road station.
• 09:28: Tube operator Metronet says the incident was caused by some sort of power surge.
• 09:33: Reports of an incident at Edgware Road tube station. Reports that passengers on a train hit by an explosion attempted to break windows with umbrellas in order to escape.
• 09:46: British Transport Police announce there had been more explosions at Kings' Cross, Old Street, Moorgate, and Russell Square.
• 09:47: Explosion on number 30 bus travelling between Marble Arch and Hackney at Upper Woburn Place/Tavistock Square.
• 09:49: Entire London Underground system shut down.
• 10:00: National Grid announce there had been no problem with power surges.
• 10:40: First report of fatalities, government source speaks of 20 dead.
• 11:08: Bus services suspended across central London.
• 11:10: Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair confirms fears that it is a coordinated terror attack, but appeals for calm, asking people not to travel to London or make unnecessary calls to the emergency services.
• 12:05: Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks out on the incident, calling the attacks a coordinated series of ‘barbaric’ terrorist attacks.
• 17:30: Having flown back from Scotland, Prime Minister Tony Blair emerges from a meeting in Downing Street and urges the public not to ‘be terrorised.’
• 18:13: Deputy Assistant Police Commissioner Brian Paddick confirms 37 fatalities: two in the bus explosion at Upper Woburn Place/Tavistock Square, seven at Liverpool Street/Aldgate, seven at Edgware Road, and twenty-one in the Kings Cross/Russell Square blast, as well as around seven hundred injuries, with roughly three hundred of those being transported by ambulance to London hospitals.
• 21:40: The Metropolitan Police announce that a person injured in one of the blasts has since died in hospital care.

Contact numbers

Special contact numbers have been issued for those trying to find friends or relatives.

• Casualty Hotline (Metropolitan Police): 0870 156 6344 (UK)   +44 870 156 6344 (International)
• Metropolitan Police: 020 7766 6020 (UK)   +44 20 7766 6020 (International)
• British Transport Police: 020 8358 0101 (UK)   +44 20 8358 0101 (International)
• Those outside the UK should see the list of Foreign Ministry contact details.

People with information regarding the bombings can report it to any of the following numbers.

• Home Office anti-terrorist hotline 0800 789 321 (UK)

See also

This list of incidences constitute those of a large nature which have had significant national or international implications. They are attacks on infrastructure, civilians, or involving an element of public transportation. They are presented here for comparison, and to provide a context for which the July 7 2005 London bombings can be compared.

• Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway (20 March 1995)
• Islamist terror bombings in France (July – October 1995)
• 1996 IRA London bus bomb (February 1996)
• 9/11 attacks in the United States (11 September 2001)
• 2002 Bali terrorist bombing (12 October 2002)
• Jerusalem bus 20 massacre (21 November 2002)
• Jerusalem bus 2 massacre (19 August 2003)
• Moscow Metro bombing (6 February 2004)
• Madrid train bombings (11 March 2004)
• Londonistan

External links and references

• Google News — Search Google News for "London Bombings"

News articles

• Guardian Newsblog live coverage — Bomb blasts plunge London into chaos (rolling post through day)
• The Economist Display Story
• London Explosions — BBC News In Depth page
• Terror Attacks in London — Sky News
• Manhunt on as toll set to rise — CNN
• London blasts: At a glance — BBC News: Timeline of events so far
• London blast: survivors' tales — The Times
• canada.com coverage — canada.com

Live streams

• BBC Live Streams
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation — ABC (Windows media)

Photographs

• Footage (photos and videos) from NowPublic
• 7/7 Community (formerly London Bomb Blasts) - Flickr Photoset
• Photos and news updated 24/7
• London Terror Attacks - Flickr Photoset
• Moblog photo from Tube on the morning of 7 July 2005
• Location of Terrorist attacks via satellite imagery
• GoogleEarth "KML file" with explosion locations

• Current events
• London history
• Terrorist incidents in 2005
• Terrorism in the United Kingdom
• Terrorist incidents on railway system
• Al-Qaeda