At least 22 people were injured in a bomb blast on a packed London Underground train on Friday.
Passengers were seen badly burnt and covered in blood after the “terrorist incident” which police said was caused by an “improvised explosive device”.
“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 told reporters.
Witnesses reported seeing passengers with facial burns and hair coming off at Parsons Green station and seeing a fire or hearing an explosion on the train.
Eighteen were taken by ambulance and the other four made their own way to hospital, the NHS said, adding that the injured have been taken to four London clinics, the National Health Service said in a statement.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s office said she would be chairing an emergency cabinet meeting later on Friday.
Armed police and sniffer dogs were seen on the train and around the station, which is set in a leafy suburb of southwest London popular with well-off commuters and filled with chic cafes.
“Terrorist incident declared at Parsons Green Underground Station,” police said in a statement.
“It is too early to confirm the cause of the fire, which will be subject to the investigation that is now underway by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command,” it said.
