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 News from Around the Americas | July 2005 
Massive Hunt for Bombers as London Picks Up the Pieces
 Lorne Cook - Agence France-Presse
A massive hunt was underway on Friday for the bombers who brought carnage to Central London, killing more than 50 people and injuring some 700 in a series of blasts on the transport system, as commuters grimly returned to work.
Police bolstered their presence on the streets to reassure the wary public, as governments around the world beefed up security in the wake of Thursday's blasts, the worst terror attack ever in Britain.
Flags flew at half-mast on public buildings and Buckingham Palace in tribute to the victims of the attacks, which authorities said were carried out without warning.
Officials said that they expected the death toll to rise further.
In the underground rail network where three of the explosions went off, sniffer dogs and extra police were on patrol, as some train services resumed operation following the complete shutdown on Thursday.
One major rail terminal, Euston Station, was briefly evacuated after what turned out to be a false alert, however, and transport police said that they expected further disruptions throughout the day with passengers and security services still nervous.
Wreaths were laid at King's Cross station.
One of the survivors of the blast, Mark Margolis, 29, was there with his wife to come to terms with what he endured.
"I don't know quite how I am going to deal with this," he said.
Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared determined to continue his summit with G8 leaders in Scotland, but was expected to return to the capital on Friday after the meeting's end to chair a meeting of a tight-knit crisis management team, known as Cobra.
He vowed to track down the perpetrators of Thursday's carnage.
"There, of course, will now be the most intense police and security service action to make sure we bring those responsible to justice," a grim-faced Blair told the nation in a televised address.
Scotland Yard spokesman Alan Crookwood said that the investigation was "a very high priority".
Three explosions tore apart packed underground trains and one peeled the top off a double-decker bus in less than an hour, as terror replaced the euphoria of a day earlier, when London was named host of the 2012 Olympic Games.
Although investigators stressed that it was too early to tell, several British newspapers were convinced that the attack on the number 30 bus had been the work of a suicide bomber.
"The number 30 suicide bomber," said the Daily Mirror tabloid, a theme taken up by several other dailies who quoted survivors as saying that they had seen a dark-skinned man poking around in a bag seconds before the blast.
"As far as the general threat assessment was concerned, we didn't have prior knowledge of this attack," said Britain's interior minister, Charles Clarke, after the authorities came under focus for a possible intelligence failure.
"We obviously are looking very carefully at all our intelligence to see if anything was missed, but in fact we don't believe anything was missed. It just came out of the blue," he told Sky News television.
The blasts, detonated without warning, occurred within minutes of each other, in an eerie echo of last year's Madrid train bombings, which were blamed on Islamic extremists.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw believed that Osama Bin Laden's global terrorist network, Al Qaeda, was probably responsible, saying: "These outrages bear the hallmarks of Al Qaeda related terrorist cells."
A previously unknown group calling itself the Organization of Al Qaeda Jihad in Europe claimed responsibility and threatened similar attacks against Italy, Denmark and other "Crusader" states with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In a statement posted on the Internet, but which could not be authenticated, it said: "Heroic mujahideens carried out a sacred attack in London, and here is Britain burning in fear, terror and fright in the north, south, east and west."
The group said that the attacks were "in response to the massacres carried out by Britain in Iraq and Afghanistan".
Britain's leaders and commuters reacted with defiance and the press drummed up sentiment reminiscent of the World War II blitz attacks on London.
"Our spirit will never be broken," blared the front-page of The Sun, the country's best-selling tabloid. "If the terrorists want a fight, by God, we'll give it them."
The Times' editorial expressed "revulsion and resolve".
The usual press of morning rush hour, however, failed to materialize in the capital with many people electing to stay at home or avoid public transport to get to the office.
"I am not scared. I have to use the Tube so I might as well start now," said Mark Thomas, a 43-year-old banker who spent the night in the city center after underground services ground to a halt on Thursday.
"It's my first journey after the attacks. It's very good to get it over and done with," said Ian Hunt, a 48-year-old accountant who took an over-ground train to Liverpool Street.
"It feels just like a Sunday though because there are so few people," he said as he emerged from Tottenham Court Road station - usually a hive of commuter activity, but the crowds were much thinner than usual even at 8:00 am (0700 GMT).
The atmosphere at stations and on the underground trains was tense as passengers warily looked around themselves or buried their faces behind newspapers, emblazoned with shock headlines about the previous day's attacks.
Highlighting the tension, a sports bag left on the forecourt of Liverpool Street, a main London terminal on the edge of the financial district, sparked a brief scare after it was accidentally forgotten by its owner.
She sheepishly returned to claim it, apologizing profusely to watching police, while some alarmed commuters shouted insults at her absent-mindedness.
"I don't feel safe because of what happened," said Edyta Tziubi, a 25-year-old Polish assistant shop manager.
In Scotland G8 leaders vowed support for Britain, condemning what they called "barbaric attacks", as US President George W. Bush pledged to pursue his global war on terror.
"They have such evil in their heart that they will take the lives of innocent folks. The war on terrorism is on," Bush told reporters. |
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