7 July 2005 London bombings

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2005 London bombings

Main articles Timeline of the 2005 London bombings 7 July 2005 London bombings 21 July 2005 London bombings Jean Charles de Menezes Reactions to the 2005 London bombings 21 July 2005 London bombings trial
7 July bombers Mohammad Sidique Khan Shehzad Tanweer Germaine Lindsay Hasib Hussain
21 July bombers Yasin Hassan Omar Osman Hussain Muktar Said Ibrahim Ramzi Mohammed Hamdi Adus Isaac
Locations London Underground Aldgate Tavistock Square King's Cross Liverpool Street Oval Russell Square Shepherd's Bush Warren Street
See also 7 July Memorial List of Islamist terrorist attacks List of attacks on the London Underground
v t e

On Thursday, 7 July, 2005, a series of four bomb explosions struck London's public transport system during the morning rush hour. At 8:50 a.m. (BST, UTC+1), three bombs exploded within one minute of each other on three London Underground trains. A fourth bomb exploded on a bus at 9:47 a.m. in Tavistock Square. All four incidents are believed to have been suicide bombings, the first of their kind in Western Europe. The bombings led to a severe, day-long disruption of the city's transport and telecommunication infrastructure.

Fifty-five people are confirmed dead as of 15 July 05, including the four suspected bombers, with 700 injured. There are currently still several people missing and emergency services are at the scene of the Underground blast in Kings Cross, searching for bodies.

The incident was the deadliest single act of terrorism in the United Kingdom since 270 died in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The incident was also the deadliest bombings in London since the London Blitz during World War II.

Investigators have identified four men, three from West Yorkshire, who are thought to have carried out the bombings and died in the attacks. Two men were arrested, one in Leeds and another in Cairo. The bombings are thought to have been planned by Islamist terrorist organizations based in the United Kingdom, possibly affiliated with al-Qaeda.

The bombings came while the UK hosted the first full day of the 31st G8 summit at Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, a day after London was chosen to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, and two days after the beginning of the trial of radical cleric Abu Hamza had started in London. The bombings also occurred after Britain had assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on July 1.

Bombings

See also: Timeline of the 7 July 2005 London bombings, on-going Wikinews coverage

A few hours after the 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.

Two more suspicious packages were found on underground trains and were destroyed using controlled explosions. Police later said they were not bombs.

Attacks on the Underground

File:July 7 London bombings locations.png

Locations of the bombings, overlaid onto a map of the London Underground

08:50 Three bombs on the London Underground exploded within fifty seconds of each other :

The first bomb exploded on a Circle Line sub-surface underground train number 204 eastbound between Liverpool Street and Aldgate. The bomb exploded about eight minutes after the train left Kings Cross St. Pancras tube station. The explosion took place 100 yards (100 m)into the tunnel on the third carriage of the train. The parallel track of the Hammersmith and City Line from Liverpool Street to Aldgate East was also damaged.
The second bomb exploded on the second carriage of a Circle Line sub-surface underground train number 216 westbound at Edgware Road. The bomb exploded about eight minutes after the train left Kings Cross station. The train had just left platform 4 at Edgware Road and was heading for Paddington. There were several other trains near the explosion. An eastbound Circle Line train (arriving at platform 3 at Edgware Road from Paddington) was passing the other train at the time of the explosion and was damaged . There were also reports of damage to a wall which collapsed. There were two other trains at Edgware Road, an unidentified train on platform 2, and an eastbound Hammersmith and City Line train that had just arrived at platform 1 .
The third bomb exploded on a Piccadilly Line deep-level underground train number 311 southbound between Kings Cross and Russell Square. The bomb exploded about one minute after the train left Kings Cross. The explosion took place at the rear of the first carriage of the train, causing severe damage to the rear of this carriage and the front of the second one . There was damage to the surrounding tunnel as well.

It was originally thought that there had been five rather than three explosions on the Underground. This was because two blasts occurred on trains that were between stations, causing the wounded to emerge from both stations, giving the impression that there was an incident at each station. Police also revised the timings of the tube blasts: initial reports had indicated that they occurred over a period of almost half an hour. This was due to initial confusion at London Underground, where the explosions were initially thought to be due to a "power surge". Further initial reports in the minutes after the explosions included a person under a train, and a derailment (both of which did actually occur, but only as a result of the explosions). A Code Amber Alert was declared at 09:19 and London Underground began to shut down the network, bringing trains into stations and suspending all services .

The effects of the bombs are thought to have varied due to the differing characteristics of the tunnels.

The Circle Line is a "cut and cover" sub-surface tunnel, about 7 m (21 ft) deep, and relatively wide with two parallel tracks. The two explosions on this line were likely able to vent their force into the tunnel, reducing their lethality.
The Piccadilly Line is a deep tunnel bore as much as 30 m (100 ft) underground, with narrow (3.5 m (11 ft) single-track tubes with just 15 cm (6 in) clearances, which reflected the blast force, concentrating its effect.

Attack on a double-decker bus

File:London2005Bus.jpg

Emergency services surround the wreckage of a bus ripped apart as part of the coordinated terrorist attack on 7 July 2005.

09:47 — An explosion occurred in Tavistock Square on a No. 30 double-decker bus operated by Stagecoach London travelling its route from Marble Arch to Hackney Wick .

Earlier, the bus had passed through the Kings Cross area as it travelled from Hackney Wick to Marble Arch. At Marble Arch, the bus turned around and started the return route from Marble Arch to Hackney Wick. It left Marble Arch at 09:00 and arrived at Euston bus station at 09:35, where crowds of people had been evacuated from the tube and were boarding buses. The bus then followed a diversion from its normal route because of road closures in the Kings Cross area (due to the earlier tube bombings). People who had been evacuated from the Underground were continuing to board the bus. At the time of the explosion the bus was travelling through Tavistock Square at the point where it joins Upper Woburn Place. It is not clear when or where the bomber boarded the bus, and the police have appealed for witnesses .

The explosion ripped the roof off the top deck of the vehicle and destroyed the back of the bus. Witnesses reported seeing "half a bus flying through the air".

The detonation took place close to the British Medical Association (BMA) building on Upper Woburn Place, and a number of doctors in or near 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. It is not clear whether the explosion was accidental or a suicide attack. News reports have identified Hasib Hussain as the person with the bomb on the bus .

The bus bomb exploded towards the rear of the vehicle's top deck, totally destroying that portion of it but leaving the front of the bus intact. Most of the passengers at the front of the top deck are believed to have survived, as did those on the front of the lower deck including the driver, but those at the top and lower rear of the bus took the brunt of the explosion. The extreme physical damage caused to the victims' bodies resulted in a lengthy delay in announcing the death toll from the bombing while the police determined how many bodies were present and whether the bomber was one of them. A number of passers-by were also injured by the explosion and surrounding buildings were damaged by fragments.

Casualties

Main article: Casualties of the 7 July 2005 London bombings

Senior official sources have confirmed that 55 people — all civilians — have been killed. Of the 700 injured, about 350 required treatment, of whom 22 were listed in serious or critical condition. The number of missing passengers currently stands at 25; six bodies have been formally identified from the bus blast and four from the train blasts .

Investigation

Initial reports

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. Other commentators have suggested that the "power surge" explanation was deliberately suggested by transport authorities in order to minimise commuter panic and enable the tube network to be cleared of passengers safely.

Terrorist attack

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair stated within a couple of hours of the explosions that he believed that they 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. The investigation thus concentrated on possible terrorist suspects.

Police are examining about 2,500 items of CCTV footage and forensic evidence from the scenes of the attacks. It is believed that each of the four bombs consisted of ten pounds (4.5 kg) of high explosives, reportedly home-made acetone peroxide , , . The bombs were likely placed on the floor of the trains and bus.

Possible suicide bombings

Although the four explosions have been widely reported as suicide bombings, the police have yet to confirm this. It is not clear why suicide bombing, if this hypothesis is true, was chosen as a tactic; the 2004 Madrid train bombings, often cited as a precedent, used abandoned backpack bombs detonated by mobile phone. Nor is it clear why the bombers carried identifying items, which led to the discovery of the bomb factory in Leeds; suicide bombers normally strip themselves of identifying material.

The suspected bombers bought return tickets from London to Luton, leading to suggestions that they expected to survive the attacks, perhaps having been misled about the time they had to escape. The bomb factory appears to have been intended for future use; Vincent Cannistraro, former head of the CIA's anti-terrorism centre, told The Guardian that "two unexploded bombs" were recovered as well as "mechanical timing devices".

Suspects

A police press conference on 12 July provided further details on the progress of the investigation. Investigators are focusing on a group of four men, three of whom were from Leeds, West Yorkshire, and have been reported as being primarily cleanskins, meaning unknown to authorities. All four arrived in London on the morning of 7 July and were recorded on CCTV at Kings Cross station (the London terminus serving Yorkshire) at about 08.30. Property associated with the men was found at the site of the explosions. Police raided six properties in the Leeds area on 12 July: two houses in Beeston, two houses in Thornhill, one house in Holbeck and one house in Alexandra Grove, Burley. One man was arrested. A vehicle associated with one of the suspects was found at Luton railway station and subjected to a controlled explosion , , .

According to West Yorkshire police, a "significant amount" of explosive material was found in the raids in Leeds and a controlled explosion was carried out at one of the properties. Explosives were also found in the vehicle at Luton and subjected to controlled explosions .

The police also raided a residential property in the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury on 13 July. The property is located in the Northern Road area.

Media reports suggest the following people are suspected of participating in the attacks:

Alleged suicide bombers

Hasib Hussain: No 30 bus, aged 18, from Colenso Mount, Leeds.
Shehzad Tanweer: Aldgate train, aged 22, from Colwyn Road, Leeds.
Mohammad Sidique Khan: Edgware Road train, aged 30, married and a recent father, from Dewsbury, near Leeds.
Jamal Lindsay: Piccadilly Line train, Jamaican-born resident of Aylesbury.

Alleged accomplices

Magdi Asdi el-Nashar: renter of a house where explosives were found; an Egyptian-born biochemistry lecturer arrested in Cairo on 15 July by Egyptian police .
Ejaz "Jacksy" Fiaz (also named as Eliaz Fiaz): possible co-conspirator, in his early thirties, from Beeston, Leeds. Initially thought to have been the suicide bomber on the Piccadilly Line train; he has disappeared.
Naveed Fiaz: brother of Ejaz, he has been in police custody since shortly after the attacks. Police have not announced charges or described his suspected role; he was connected to three of the bombers via the Hamara Youth Access Point.
Unnamed co-conspirator: an Al Qaeda operative believed to be the bomb-maker and cell organizer, described as a Pakistani in his 30s, who entered Britain through a port some time in June 2005, and left the country on 6 July.

Luton cell

There has been considerable speculation as to connections between the bombers and another alleged Al Qaeda cell in Luton, which was broken up in August, 2004. That group was uncovered after alleged Al Qaeda operative Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan was arrested in Lahore, Pakistan. His laptop computer was said to contain plans for subway attacks in London as well as attacks on financial buildings in New York and Washington. The group was put under heavy surveillance but US officials leaked news of Khan's arrest, forcing police in Britain and Canada to move in and make arrests before the investigation was complete. British officials were said to have been furious about the disclosure . At the time, there was speculation that the leak was prompted by the desire to boost the prospects of the incumbent, George W. Bush in the US presidential election which was three months away. Tom Ridge, the US homeland security secretary, later apologized to the British.

One of the London bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan (no known relation), is now believed to have been overlooked when the Luton cell was broken up .

Claim of responsibility

At around 12:10 on 7 July, 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. The newsmagazine Der Spiegel in Germany and BBC Monitoring both reported that a group named "Secret Organisation — al-Qaeda in Europe" had posted an announcement claiming responsibility on the al-Qal3ah ("The Castle") Internet forum , . The announcement claims the attacks are a response due to the British involvement in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. The letter also warned other governments involved in Iraq (mentioning specifically Denmark and Italy) to withdraw troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. A Saudi commentator in London noted that the statement was grammatically poor, and that a Qur'anic quotation was incorrect. This has been disputed .

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

According to former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens, the bombers were almost certainly born or based in Britain. The attacks would have required extensive preparation and prior reconnaissance efforts, and a familiarity with bomb-making and the London transport network as well as access to significant amounts of high-grade explosives. The most likely suspects are said to be individuals who had been to the al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan prior to 2001. As many as 3,000 British born or based people are thought to have been trained in the camps and may since have trained others .

Some newspaper editorials in Iran, however, have blamed the bombing on British or American authorities seeking to further justify their War on Terrorism, and have claimed that the plan that included the bombings also involved increasing harassment of Muslims in Europe .

Translated statement

File:Al Qaeda responsible.jpg

Screen capture of Nur al-Iman's claim of responsibility

Within hours after the attack, someone using the name "Nur al-Iman" and identified as a "new guest", posted a statement on the Al-Qal3ah website which claimed responsibility on behalf of "The Secret Organisation Group of Al-Qaeda of Jihad Organisation in Europe". The following is a translation 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.

Nations of Islam and Arab nations: 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"

The quotation at the end of the statement is from the Qur'an, in Sura 47:7(). The translation of the quotation given here is by Abdullah Yusuf Ali.

The term ghazw, here translated as "raid", has historically often been used in Islamic contexts with the connotations of an attack on the enemies of an Islamic state seen as a meritorious act; those who carry out such attacks (ghazawāt) are called ghāzīs.

Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade

A second claim of responsibility was posted on the Internet on 9 July, claiming the attacks for another Al Qaeda-linked group, Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade. The group has previously falsely claimed responsibility for events that were the result of technical problems, such as the 2003 London blackout and 2003 North America blackout . They have also claimed authorship of the 2004 Madrid train bombings.

Warnings

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. This was later retracted by AP . 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" . Although the report has been retracted, the earlier version continues to be circulated. On the basis of this pre-explosion warning Israeli Finance Minister and former Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, changed his plan from speaking at an economics conference to staying in his hotel, which was in the vicinity of one of the explosions, see Yahoo News .

In an interview with the Portuguese newspaper Público a month after the Madrid train bombings, Syrian-born cleric Sheik Omar Bakri Muhammad warned that "a very well-organized" London-based group which he called Al Qaeda Europe, was "on the verge of launching a big operation" . In December 2004, the Sheik vowed that if Western governments did not change their policies, Muslims would give them "a 9/11, day after day after day".

According to a 17 November 2004 post on the Newsweek website, US authorities in 2004 had evidence that terrorists were planning a possible attack in London. In addition, the article stated that FBI agents were avoiding use of the London Underground .

Effects

Security alerts

Although there were security alerts at many locations, no other terrorist incidents occurred outside central London. Suspicious packages were destroyed in controlled explosions in Brighton, Coventry, and Edinburgh. Security across the UK was raised to the highest alert level.

Many other countries raised their own terror alert status, especially for public transport. For a time US commanders ordered troops based in the UK to avoid London.

Transport and telecoms disruption

Vodafone reported that its mobile phone network reached capacity at about 10:00 AM on the day of the incident, and it was forced to initiate emergency procedures to prioritise emergency calls (ACCOLC, the "access overload control scheme"). 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 considered, it was later revealed that the intermittent unavailability of both mobile and landline phone systems were due to excessive usage.

For most of the day, London's public transport system was effectively crippled because of the complete closure of the underground system, the closure of the Zone 1 bus networks, and the evacuation of Russell Square. Bus services restarted at 4pm the same day, and most mainline train stations reopened shortly after. Tourist river vessels were pressed into service to provide a free alternative to the overcrowded trains and buses. Thousands of people chose to walk home or make their way to the nearest Zone 2 bus or train station. Most of the Underground aside from the affected stations restarted the next morning, though some commuters chose to stay at home.

Much of Kings Cross station was also closed, with the ticket hall and waiting area being used as a makeshift hospital to treat casualties on the spot. Although the station reopened later in the day, only suburban rail services were able to use it, with Intercity trains terminating at Peterborough (the service was fully restored the following Saturday). The Underground station at Kings Cross remains open only to Metropolitan Line services in order to facilitate the ongoing recovery and investigation effort. St. Pancras Station, located next to Kings Cross, was shut on Thursday afternoon with all Midland Mainline trains terminating in Leicester disrupting services to Sheffield, Nottingham and Derby.

Economic impact

There were limited immediate reactions to the attack in the world economy as measured by financial market and exchange rate activity. The pound fell 0.89 cents to a 19-month low against the U.S. dollar. However, 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 war in Iraq, and it triggered the stock market's special measures, restricting panic selling and aimed at ensuring market stability. However, by the time the market closed it had recovered to only 71.3 points (1.36 per cent) down on the previous day's three-year closing high. Markets in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain also closed about 1 per cent down on the day .

US market indexes rose slightly, in part because the dollar index rose sharply against the pound and the euro. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 31.61 to 10,302.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 7.01 to 2075.66. The Standard & Poor S&P 500 Index rose 2.93 points to 1197.87 after declining up to 1 per cent. Every benchmark gained 0.3 per cent .

The markets picked up again on 8 July as it became clear that the damage caused by the bombings was not as great as initially thought. By close of trading the market had fully recovered to above its level at start of trading on 7 July. Insurers in the UK tend to reinsure their terrorist liabilities in excess of the first £75,000,000 with Pool Re, a mutual insurer set up by the government with leading insurers. Pool Re has substantial reserves and newspaper reports indicate that claims will easily be covered.

On 9 July, the Bank of England, HM Treasury and the Financial Services Authority revealed that they had instigated contingency plans immediately after the attacks to ensure that the UK financial markets could keep trading. This involved the activation of a "secret chatroom" on the British Government's Financial Sector Continuity website , which allowed the institutions to communicate with the country's banks and market dealers.

Response

Main article: Response to the 2005 London bombings

Response from public figures

There were many responses to the attacks from within Great Britain and from around the world.

Media response

Rolling news coverage of the attacks were broadcast throughout 7 July, by both BBC 1 and ITV 1 (the main channels in the UK).

Many films and drama broadcasts were cancelled or postponed on grounds of taste. For example, BBC Radio 4 pulled its scheduled Classic Serial without explanation; it was to have been John Buchan's Greenmantle, about the revolt of Muslims against British interests abroad.

The bbc.co.uk website recorded an all time bandwidth peak of 11 Gb/s at 12:00 on July 7. BBC News received some 1 billion total hits on the day of the event (including all images, text and HTML), serving some 5.5 terabytes of data. At peak times during the day there were 40,000 page requests per second for the BBC News website. The previous day's announcement of the 2012 Olympics being awarded to London caused a peak of around 5 Gb/s. The previous all time high at bbc.co.uk was caused by the announcement of the Michael Jackson verdict, which used 7.2 Gb/s .

In America, many criticized the media's response of, "what about us?" In essence, several U.S. news outlets aired reports on security from terror in the U.S., rather than focusing on the London attacks.

On Tuesday, 12 July, 2005, it was reported that the right-wing political party, the British National Party, released leaflets showing images of the "Number 30 Bus" after it was blown up. The slogan "Maybe now it's time to start listening to the BNP" was printed beside the photo. The BNP were accused of using the leaflet to stir racial hatred.

Muslim response

The Kingdom’s grand mufti yesterday strongly denounced the deadly blasts that rocked London, saying Islam strictly prohibits the killing of innocent people. He also censured the terrorists for tarnishing the image of Islam by attaching their heinous crimes to the religion.

(ref )

Retaliatory attacks

Following the bombing there were a series of attacks on mosques and other Muslim targets across Britain. Arson and other damage have been reported in Tower Hamlets and Merton, both in London, Telford, Leeds, Bristol and Bradford. A mosque in Birkenhead was firebombed by two men, trapping the assistant imam in an upstairs bedroom. He was rescued by firefighters. One man was to be charged with arson and reckless endangerment . In Nottingham, a 48-year-old man from Pakistan died after what police are treating as a racially aggravated attack. Six people were arrested in connection with the attack .

In Auckland, New Zealand a mosque was vandalised on 7 July and on 10 July that same mosque and five others were vandalised. Windows and doors were broken and outside walls were spray-painted with variations of "R.I.P. London" . One 18-year-old male has been arrested and charged with seven counts of intentional damage. Police are seeking others , .

Historical comparisons

The bombings were the deadliest attack in London since a V2 rocket killed 131 people in Stepney on 27 March 1945, near the end of the Second World War. They were the deadliest post-World War II incident in the capital since the Harrow & Wealdstone station rail crash of 1952 left 112 dead.

They were the second-deadliest terrorist attack in the UK, after the Lockerbie bombing (270 dead) and well ahead of the 1998 Omagh bombing (29 dead) and the 1974 Birmingham pub bombing (21 dead). The 2005 attacks being the third deadliest in British history are also the first coordinated suicide bombings perpetrated by Islamic terrorists in the history of London. They constitute one of the deadliest incidents in the history of the London Underground, alongside the Moorgate tube crash of February 1975 (43 dead) and the Kings Cross fire of November 1987 (31 dead).

The London Underground has been targeted by terrorists before. In February and March 1976, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) left several explosive devices in the tube network. On 4 March 1976, eight people were injured by a bomb in Cannon Street; 11 days later, nine people were injured by an explosion at West Ham underground station. Seconds after that incident, the driver of the train was shot dead when he attempted to pursue the fleeing bomber. Two more devices found at Oxford Circus and Wood Green stations were defused.

The 2005 attack featured the most explosions in a single terrorist incident in a UK city since Bloody Friday in Belfast in July 1972 (22 bombs planted). They were the world's deadliest attack on a mass transit system since the Madrid train bombings of 11 March 2004 (191 dead), although the March 1995 Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway injured far more people.

There has only been one other bomb explosion on a London bus in recent times: on 18 February 1996 at Wellington Street near Aldwych, in which the only fatality was the IRA member transporting the device. Security forces say this was not intended as a suicide attack but resulted from the accidental detonation of a bomb he intended to plant elsewhere.

The 2005 attacks were the first terrorist killings in London since 30 April 1999, when the neo-Nazi David Copeland bombed the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho, killing three people.

Relief organizations

British Red Cross relief fund

A relief fund has been set up for victims of the bombings and donations can be made at the British Red Cross website

Contact numbers

Special contact numbers were 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 were asked to report it to the following number.

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

Scotland Yard requested that members of the public with video or images on mobile phones or otherwise send them to images@met.police.uk.

External links and references

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.

Template:Wikinewshas

London Underground TrackerNet images

Transport for London press centre image gallery with TrackerNet images of the movements of the Circle Line trains. Retrieved 13 July 2005. Requires checkbox agreement to enter.

Photos and videos

Flickr 7/7 Community (formerly London Bomb Blasts) / Pool. Retrieved 9 July 2005.
Google Earth Hacks Forums Locations of the terrorist attacks in London on 7 July 2005.. Retrieved 9 July 2005. (KML map file)
JimLahey London Attacks 2005. Retrieved 9 July 2005.
PhotoDuck London Bombings London terrorist attacks London Bombing News Photos. Retrieved 9 July 2005.

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