An explosive device was detonated on a crowded train in south-west London during Friday’s morning rush hour, Scotland Yard has confirmed.
Authorities said that 29 people were hospitalised, many with burns and several of whom had been injured as terrified commuters fled the scene — Parsons Green station.
“This was a detonation of an improvised explosive device,” Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley of the Metropolitan Police, a top counterterrorism official, said at a news conference.
A video widely circulated on social media shows the crude device as a white bucket inside a supermarket bag, with wires trailing onto the carriage floor. There are also reports a timer was used.
The suspect behind the attack — who remains at large — has been identified using CCTV footage, according to security sources.
“Security sources say they’ve identified a suspect involved in the Parsons Green bombing, with the aid of CCTV footage,” Mark White, a home affairs correspondent for Sky News, said on Twitter.
Eyewitnesses have described seeing a “fireball” fill the train carriage, while others spoke of “complete pandemonium” as panicked passengers tried to exit the train and the elevated station.
Charlie Craven, 29, said he boarded the train seconds before the incident.
“A massive bang occurred, we didn’t know what happened,” he told NBC. “We looked around and the first thing we saw was an orange fireball … coming toward you.”
He added: “There was this mass hysteria of people shouting, screaming trying to get away from the situation.”
The suspect behind the attack remains at large, but has been pinpointed on CCTV footage.
The attack saw 29 people hospitalised, many with burns.
Counter-terrorism authorities have now taken over the investigation.
Australian Lucy Steadman said she and her boyfriend became caught in a “stampede” as they attempted to escape.
“We were standing close to the doors of the tube and then I heard some horrible screaming and saw people sprinting down the platform toward the exit,” Ms Steadman told news.com.au.
“The station only has one staircase out so people were rushing for that.”
“At that point, I didn’t know what had happened yet and I thought it might be someone with a gun or a knife, so I wasn’t sure if the threat was still there or not.”
“I just had to focus on staying upright because I could see people in front of me falling and getting trampled on.”
“When it became clear the immediate threat was gone, we started helping people who had fallen on the stairs.”
She added: “I noticed dirt on me and feel like I might have bruises from the stampede but nothing serious.”
WATCH: This isn’t the first terrorism incident to have struck the United Kingdom this year. Another, targeting children, occurred at an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017.
Shortly after the rush-hour incident, US President Donald Trump tweeted that the “loser terrorist” had been “in the sights of Scotland Yard” — without providing any further details.
The tweet drew an immediate response from UK Prime Minister Theresa May, who told the BBC, “I never think it’s helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation.”
Ms May said the terror threat level would remain at “severe” — the second highest level.
“Police and security services are obviously doing all the work to discover the full circumstances of this cowardly attack and try to identify those responsible,” she said.
“The threat of terrorism that we face is severe but together, by working together, we will defeat them.”
More as we get it.
