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Two people have been killed and scores have been injured after at least seven blasts on the Underground network and a double-decker
bus in London.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was "reasonably clear" there had been a series of terrorist attacks.
He said it was "particularly barbaric" that it was timed to coincide with the G8 summit. He is returning to
London.
An Islamist website has posted a statement - purportedly from al-Qaeda - claiming it was behind the attacks.
London's police chief Sir Ian Blair said there had been "many casualties" but it was too early to put a figure
to those killed or injured.
More than 100 casualties and one of the dead were taken to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.
And St Mary's Hospital said it was dealing with 26 injured people, including four with critical injuries and eight in
a serious condition.
Sir Ian urged people to stay where they were and not to call emergency services unless it was a life-threatening situation.
He reassured the public that an emergency plan was in place and the situation was "steadily coming under control".
Scotland Yard said explosions have been reported at Edgware Road, King's Cross, Liverpool Street, Russell Square, Aldgate
East and Moorgate.
08:49 police called to Liverpool Street station after reports of bang
Blasts also reported at Aldgate East, Edgware Rd, Kings Cross, Moorgate, Russell Square tube stations
10:14 Reports of blast on bus at Tavistock Square
All London Underground services have been suspended indefinitely and bus services in central London (Zone One) have been
halted.
Describing the bus blast, eyewitness Belinda Seabrook said she saw an explosion rip through the bus as it approached Russell
Square.
"I was on the bus in front and heard an incredible bang, I turned round and half the double-decker bus was in the
air," she said.
She said the bus was travelling from Euston to Russell Square and had been "packed" with people turned away
from Tube stops.
"It was a massive explosion and there were papers and half a bus flying through the air, I think it was the number
205," she said.
"There must be a lot of people dead as all the buses were packed, they had been turning people away from the Tube
stops."
One caller to BBC Five said his friend had seen "the bus ripped open like a can of sardines and bodies everywhere".
Loyita Worley, who works for a City law firm, said she was on the underground train when an explosion took place in the
next carriage, while it was in a tunnel.
There was immediately smoke everywhere and it was hot and everybody panicked. People started screaming and crying
Jacqui Head
BBC News
Bus 'ripped apart' in explosion
Have you been affected?
Terror of stranded passengers
The 49-year-old said: "All the lights went out and the train came to an immediate halt. There was smoke everywhere
and everyone was coughing and choking, but remained calm. We couldn't open the doors."
Once the doors were opened they were taken along to Liverpool Street station.
She said the carriage where an explosion happened was "black on the inside" and she saw people who appeared
to have their clothes blown off.
She saw bodies lying inside the carriage.
Another passenger, who had left the Tube at Fenchurch Street Station, and walked to Aldgate East, told BBC Five Live that
he saw injured people.
"As I walked through the bus station I could see people lying on the ground, black, as if they'd been covered in
smoke. There were about three or four people on the floor being treated."
A spokesman for Vodafone said emergency services were being given priority access to the mobile phone network which was
causing problems for other users.
©BBC 2005
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