London tube attack: UK's fifth terror attack in 2017

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A home-made bomb exploded on a packed rush-hour commuter train in London injuring 22 people on Friday, police said, in what was being treated as the fifth terrorism attack in Britain this year.

When and where?

Passengers on board a train heading into the capital fled as fire engulfed a carriage at Parsons Green underground station in West London after the explosion at 8:20 a.m. local time (0720 GMT).

Armed British police officers stand on duty outside Parsons Green underground tube station in West London on September 15, 2017, following an incident on an underground tube carriage at the station. /AFP Photo

Some suffered burns while others were injured in a stampede to escape. The National Health Service said 22 people had been taken to London hospitals. None were thought to be in a serious condition, the ambulance service said.

Britain's top counter-terrorism officer Mark Rowley told reporters that most of the injuries were thought to be flash burns.

Rowley declined to answer whether the authorities knew who was responsible or if the suspected bomber had been on the train, saying it was a live investigation which was being assisted by the intelligence services.

A woman reacts as she talks on a mobile phone near Parsons Green underground tube station in West London on September 15, 2017. /AFP Photo

Pictures taken at the scene showed a white bucket with a supermarket freezer bag on the floor of one train carriage. The bucket was in flames and there appeared to be wires coming out of the top.

Tube services between Wimbledon and Earl’s Court are suspended.

Reactions from world leaders

British Prime Minister Theresa May said her "thoughts are with those injured" in a terrorist incident on a London Underground train and she will chair an emergency cabinet meeting later on Friday.

"My thoughts are with those injured at Parsons Green and the emergency services who, once again, are responding swiftly and bravely to a suspected terrorist incident," May said.

May said police and security services are doing all the work to identify those responsible for the attack, adding that threat of terrorism is severe, "but working together we will defeat it."

Members of the emergency services work near Parsons Green underground tube station in West London on September 15, 2017. /AFP Photo

US President Donald Trump on Friday blasted the "loser terrorists" behind the train attack in London. "Another attack in London by a loser terrorist," the US president tweeted. "These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!"

Germany stands united with Britain in the fight against terrorism, Chancellor Angela Merkel said, adding that terrorism "is a challenge which we all face."

"That's why we're united with Britain, with the British government and, above all, with the people of Britain," she said.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said he was in contact with police over the incident. "Our city utterly condemns the hideous individuals who attempt to use terror to harm us and destroy our way of life," he said. “As London has proven again and again, we will never be intimidated or defeated by terrorism.”

UK terror attack in 2017

The incident comes after a series of terror attacks that have rocked Britain this year, killing dozens of people and injuring hundreds, putting the capital on high alert.

This is the fifth terrorism incident that happened in the UK in 2017 and it's the only one this year in which nobody has died. The previous four saw 36 people killed.

Police forensics officers work alongside an underground tube train at a platform at Parsons Green underground tube station in West London on September 15, 2017. /AFP Photo

"This is the most sustained period of terrorist activity in England since the Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombing campaign of the early 1970s," an analysis of BBC said.

The IRA bomb campaign, which hit London from 1973 onwards, sought to create a climate of fear over a long period. There were 36 bombs in London in 1973.

Terror attacks in the UK in 2017:

- March 22, a British mows down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge near parliament and stabs a policeman, killing five people and injuring around 50 before being shot dead by police.

- May 22, 22 killed and 116 injured in a suicide bombing at a pop concert in Manchester

- June 3, three attackers strike pedestrians with a van and go on a stabbing spree, killing eight people.

- June 19, a man drives into a crowd of Muslim worshipers near a mosque in London's Finsbury Park area killing one, injuring 11 others.

- September 15, a bomb exploded in Parsons Green station of London Underground. No one was killed or injured.

(With input from Reuters, AFP)

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