Bomb blasts plunge London into chaos

By Neil McIntosh / UK news 11:20am

A series of bomb blasts have hit central London today.

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The situation is developing very quickly. We have no news yet of the number of injuries, or deaths, although eyewitnesses quoted on the BBC say there are a number of bodies under sheets, in several locations in the city.

We'll update this post as news comes in. Obviously, our front page will also be constantly updating as well.

1150 It has been confirmed that two people have been killed at Aldgate station this morning.

1140 Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair is being quoted by PA as saying traces of explosives have been found at least one blast scene. He added the picture was still "very confused".

1130 Police at Aldgate Station say there are unconfirmed reports of two fatalities there, and nine seriously injured.

A PA report just in from Aldgate: "A 42-year-old man wept as he described what happened on the train. Terry O'Shea, a construction worker from Worcester, said: "I was in the third carriage, the one behind the one where the explosion was. There was a loud bang and we felt the train shudder. Then smoke started coming in to the compartment. It was terrible. People were panicking, but they calmed down after one or two minutes. As they led us down the track past the carriage where the explosion was, we could see the roof was torn off it, and there were bodies on the track."

Jack Linton, 14, suffered cuts to his face in the incident. Jack, from Hawkwell, Essex, who was on his way to work experience at a company, said: "The middle of the train was blown out and there were people on the track."

1120 Tony Blair will be making a live, televised statement on the crisis at midday. Sir Ian Blair, Metropolitan Police Commissioner, has told the BBC that there have been six explosions so far today, one on a bus. In what is clearly intended to be a calming message, he asks that Londoners stay where they are, do not call the emergency services unless there is a life-threatening situation, and promises there will be more information. London's emergency plan has kicked into action, and he says they are "returning order to the situation".

1110 PA is reporting fears of "many" dead after a series of what are now, patently, terrorist bomb blasts around the city. Eyewitness reports talk of terrible injuries, and "many fatalities".

1102 The pictures coming in from around the city are truly shocking. Down near Holborn there's a bus - possibly one of the big tourist buses that are a fixture on the London streets - with its top floor ripped apart. One report talks of the injured being operated on in the concourse at Liverpool Street station.

1055 There are now reports of another bomb going off - in Houndsitch, near Liverpool Street in the City of London.

1052 The FTSE has plunged 160 points, but Downing Street says rumours that Tony Blair is to return to London from Gleneagles are false.

1048 Home Secretary Charles Clarke has just appeared in front of Downing Street, talking of "dreadful" incidents, and "terrible injuries" in the explosions. He is sending sympathy to those individuals and families affected. The COBRA committee - the government's emergency response body - is meeting, as is the Cabinet.

1040 We're hearing that there's a train stuck between Liverpool Street and Aldgate, and that there are "a number of casualties" on that train.

1030 The situation so far: we are hearing of a bus explosion in the Holborn area - eyewitness accounts talk of the bus having its roof blown off. This casts some doubt on reports that "power surges" caused explosions at Aldgate, Old Street, Kings Cross, Russell Square and Edgware Road earlier this morning.

Around the city centre, everyone is walking. The tube is entirely closed down. Mainline trains are not coming into town, and members of staff arriving in the office say buses are not entering Zone 1 - the most central part of town, in which all today's explosions have taken place.

The first problems started at around 0850, when a series of explosions - blamed on power surges - rocked a series of stations in the centre of town. Tube lines started closing right after that.