Original Posted By: "Oscar Zuniga"
London attacked again; police confirm 4 blasts3 subway stations, bus hit by small explosions; Blair appeals for calmMSNBC News ServicesUpdated: 11:51 a.m. ET July 21, 2005LONDON - Explosions struck three London Underground stations and a bus at middayThursday in a chilling but less deadly replay of the suicide bombings that killed56 people two weeks ago.Only one person was reported wounded, but the lunch-hour explosions caused majorshock and disruption in the capital and were hauntingly similar to the July7 bombings by four attackers.The London police commissioner confirmed Thursday that four explosions took placein what he described as =93a very serious incident.=94=93We=92ve had four explosions =97 four attempts at explosions,=94 MetropolitanPolice Commissioner Ian Blair said outside police headquarters at Scotland Yard.=93At the moment the casualty numbers appear to be very low ... the bombs appearto be smaller=94 than those detonated July 7.At a news gathering, Prime Minister Tony Blair appealed for calm. He said the peoplebehind the incidents are trying to "scare people" and "make them anxious."Blair said police were hoping to get the city's transit system "back to normalas quickly as possible."ChaseMinutes before the prime minister spoke, police with their weapons drawn escorteda man away from the gates at the end of Downing Street. A police officer drew a firearm and aimed it at a target beyond the range of televisioncameras. Another officer then led away a man whose black shirt was undone.The man also wore black trousers and appeared to be of Asian or Middle Easternorigin.Meantime, police were searching a London hospital Thursday for a man wearing ablue shirt with wires protruding from a hole in the back, a TV report said.An internal memo at University College Hospital in north London urged staff towatch for the man, described as a black or Asian male, about 6-feet-2, Sky Newstelevision reported.No chemicalsOne witness told Sky TV that a fellow subway passenger told him a backpack explodedat the Warren Street station and there were reports of smoke.Sky TV reported that police said no chemical agents were involved in the explosions.Explosions also were reported at the Shepherds Bush and Oval stations.Emergency teams were sent to all three stations after the incidents, which beganat 12:38 p.m.Witnesses said they had seen what could have been a would-be bomber running awayafter dropping a rucksack on one of the trains.=93We all got off on the platform and the guy just ran and started running up theescalator,=94 one witness who gave her name as Andrea told the BBC.=93Everyone was screaming for someone to stop him. He ran past me...and he ranout of the station. In fact he left a bag on the train,=94 she said.Bus blastPassengers were evacuated off a bus in Hackney, east London, and police cordonedoff streets nearby. The bus company said a blast blew out the windows of thebus but a police officer on the scene said there were no signs of damage.A police officer told Reuters: =93The bus driver heard a bang at the back of thebus. He thought it was probably a vehicle that had hit him.=93He stopped at a nearby bus stop and saw a suspect package at the back of thebus.=94The fire brigade put on protective clothing before moving towards the bus.Closed-circuit TV cameras on Hackney Road showed the No. 26 bus immobilized ata stop with its indicator lights flashing. The area around the bus had been cordonedoff.Haunting similaritiesThe incidents paralleled the blasts two weeks ago, which involved explosions atthree Underground stations simultaneously =97 quickly followed by a blast ona bus. Those bombings, during the morning rush hour, also occurred in the centerof London, hitting the Underground railway from various directions.Thursday=92s incidents, however, were more geographically spread out.London Ambulance said it was called to the Oval station at 12:38 p.m. and WarrenStreet at 12:45 p.m. The July 7 attacks began at 8:51 a.m.=93People were panicking. But very fortunately the train was only 15 seconds fromthe station,=94 witness Ivan McCracken told Sky news.McCracken said another passenger at Warren Street claimed he had seen a backpackexplode. The bombs which killed 56 people on board three underground trainsand a bus in London on July 7 were carried in backpacks, police said.Smell of smokeMcCracken said he smelled smoke and that people were panicking and coming intohis carriage. He said he spoke to an Italian man who was comforting a woman afterthe evacuation.=93He 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,=94 McCrackensaid.=93The man then made an exclamation as if something had gone wrong. At that pointeveryone rushed from the carriage.=94Services were shut across the Underground system, which serves 3 million Londonersdaily.=93I was in the carriage and we smelt smoke -=97 it was like something was burning,=94said Losiane Mohellavi, 35, who was evacuated at Warren Street.=93Everyone was panicked and people were screaming. We had to pull the alarm. Iam still shaking,=94 Mohellavi said.He told The Associated Press he did not see smoke but rather smelled somethingsimilar to an electrical fire.The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.________________________________________________________________________________