International News

LONDON, Sept 15, (APP/AFP) – At least 22 people
were injured after a bomb detonated on a packed London Underground train on Friday, setting off a “wall of fire” that burned commuters in Britain’s fifth terror attack in six months.
Witnesses saw passengers with facial burns and hair coming off at the
Parsons Green station in west London after the explosion on the train during
the morning rush hour.
“At 8:20 this morning at Parsons Green station there was an explosion
on a Tube train. We now assess that this was a detonation of an improvised explosive device,” police counter-terror chief Mark Rowley said.
Rowley said most of the injuries were due to “flash burns”, while
others were wounded by the stampede as passengers ran out of the station in panic.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said a “manhunt” was underway.
One local resident, Charlie Craven, who was on his way to the
station, said he heard a “massive bang”.
“I saw an orange sort of fireball encompassing the whole Tube coming
towards you,” he told AFP.
Witness Lauren Hubbard described it as “a wall of fire”.
Twitter user @Rrigs, who posted pictures of a white bucket
smouldering on the train, said: “Explosion on Parsons Green District Line train. Fireball flew down carriage and we just jumped out open door”.
The bucket, which was inside a frozen food bag from the budget
supermarket chain Lidl, looked like the type used by builders and there appeared to be cables coming out of it.
Police sources cited by British media said the device had a timer but
had failed to detonate fully.
US President Donald Trump said that “loser terrorists” were behind
the attack, adding that they were already “in the sights” of British police.
London’s Metropolitan Police dismissed the tweet as “unhelpful
speculation”, and Trump was also rebuked by Prime Minister Theresa May.
“I never think it’s helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an
ongoing investigation,” she said, speaking after an emergency cabinet meeting.