7 July 2005 London bombings

All times are in British Summer Time (BST), which is UTC+1.
Additional photos and other images are on the images page.

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On Thursday 7 July 2005, a series of four bomb explosions struck London's public transport system during the morning rush hour. Three London Underground trains were hit in the central city within half an hour, and a double-decker London Bus was hit 30 minutes later. Initially, the death toll was reported as 37, but by the next day, the death toll had risen to at least 50 people, 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 in Perthshire, and a day after London was chosen to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.

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

Bombings

Each explosion was caused by a bomb comprising up to 4 kg (10 pounds) of high explosive, placed on the floors of the train carriages and bus. The Underground attacks were detonated by timers. The bus bomb attack may have been accidentally detonated or involved a suicide bomber, but police said they had found no evidence of the latter.

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.

Two more suspicious packages were found on underground trains and were destroyed using controlled explosions. Police said they turned out not to be bombs.[1]

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 [2] 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. However, these early reports conflicted with a later statement made by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair, who said that there was no evidence of a suicide bombing.

Casualties

The bombings killed more than 50 people, making them the deadliest attack in London since the Second World War. They are the second most deadly terrorist attack in the UK, after the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie in Scotland, which killed 270 people. Other terrorist attacks on the UK include the 1998 Omagh bombing (29 people), the 1974 Birmingham pub bombing (21 people), and the 1999 London nail bombings (three people)

Location	Deaths
Aldgate / Liverpool Street	7
King's Cross / Russell Square	21+
Edgware Road Station	7
Bus in Tavistock Square	13
Died of injuries in hospital	1
Total	49+

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; 17 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."

[3] 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, [4] and hospitals had to call in off-duty staff, plus doctors from as far afield as Hampshire and Oxfordshire.

At a press conference on July 8, it was revealed that of 700 people injured [5] in the explosions, 350 were treated on the scene and 350 were treated at hospitals (208 of them at the Royal London Hospital [6]) One hundred were kept in hospitals overnight, and 22 were listed as being in "serious" or "critical" condition. One person died in hospital from their injuries.

Many of the injured were foreign nationals, including people from Sierra Leone, Australia, South Africa, Portugal, Poland and the People's Republic of China, causing some language difficulty. When investigators fully clear the rubble and debris at the site of each explosions, the final death count will most likely be more precise; current estimates vary widely.

Investigation

After the conclusion of the operation to remove the dead and injured, police invesigation teams began the painstaking process of examining the crime scenes for evidence. The key pieces of evidence included: traces of high-explosive material, DNA evidence, footage from London's extensive network of CCTV cameras, and voice and internet telecommuications intercepts,

In a press conference at 11:00 on 8 July, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair revealed that each of the four bombs probably consisted of 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. Blair also reported that there was no evidence that the bombings were suicide attacks.

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"—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. [7]

Claim of responsibility

At around 11:10 UTC 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 [8] and BBC Monitoring both reported that a group named "Secret Organization—al-Qaeda in Europe" had posted an announcement claiming responsibility on the al-Qal3ah ("The Castle") Internet forum. [9] [10] 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, however, noted that the statement was grammatically poor, and that a Qur'anic quotation was incorrect.

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 organizations related to Al-Qaeda."

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

• Bombs were detonated nearly simultaneously;
• No warnings were given by the perpetrators;
• The bombs were detonated early in the day to catch the news; and
• The bombs were detonated at a time and location designed to inflict maximum death and injury to a civilian population.

Translated statement

File:Al Qaeda responsible.jpg

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

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.

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 [holy warriors] 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([11]). The translation of the quotation given here is by Abdullah Yusuf Ali.

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. [12] An Associated Press report [13] 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." [14] 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." [15]

Reaction

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. [16] 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. [17]

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. [18]

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

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. [19] 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. [20]

In the United States, the Department of Homeland Security has raised the terror alert level to orange specifically for mass transit. [21] Seattle, for example, had Seattle police and King County sheriffs patrolling at each stop in the downtown bus tunnel.

Transport and telecommunication 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 heavy usage, as many people called family and friends in the area to determine their whereabouts and safety.

For most of the day, London's mass transit 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 16.00 the same day, and most main-line train stations reopened shortly after. The streets were nevertheless teeming with commuters touting street-map printouts to navigate on foot to their nearest mainline station. Most of the underground aside from the affected stations restarted the next morning.

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. However, by the time the market closed it had recovered to only 71.3 points (1.36 percent) down on the previous day's three-year closing high. Markets in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain also closed about 1 percent down on the day. [22]

U.S. market indexes rose slightly, in part because the dollar index rose sharply against the pound and 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 500 Index rose 2.93 points to 1197.87 after declining up to 1 percent. Every benchmark gained 0.3 percent. [23]

Public Sentiment

Media reports both within the UK and other countries commented on the unhysterical response of the public and administration to the events. Commentators attributed this to people being inured to incidents of this type from the actions of (amongst others) Irish separatists from the 1970s onwards, when a bombing campaign was instituted on the UK mainland in general and London in particular. A timetable of previous bombing incidents from 1971 to 2001 can be found at http://www.nivets.co.uk/chron/mainland.htm .

International response

Main article: Response to the 2005 London bombings

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 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)
• Beslan school hostage crisis (1-3 September 2004)

External links and references

• 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