An explosion occurred on a District Line train on the London Underground at shortly after 8:20 a.m. local time Friday morning as people commuted to work. Some tube passengers suffered injuries from the blast and others panicked as they disembarked at Parsons Green station. London Metropolitan Police and paramedics arrived at the scene in Fulham shortly afterward.

Images taken on the train show flames coming from a white bucket in a Lidl grocery store bag after the blast, but little damage can be seen to the train carriage, which was towards the rear of the train.

Wires can be seen emanating from the bucket.

Passengers suffered injuries including burns

According to witnesses, at least one person suffered facial injuries from the blast and others had grazes and cuts. Other witnesses spoke of passengers who were panicking and falling over each other as they rushed off the train, dropping their belongings as they ran.

The Metro reports that counter terror police and a bomb squad had been sent to the station after the explosion. According to that report, police are seeking a man with a knife that was on the run after the blast. The newspaper quoted witnesses as saying bomb disposal officers were in the process of defusing the second bomb, but that fact has yet to be confirmed.

According to the London Ambulance Service, officials also dispatched a hazardous area response team to the tube station.

Witnesses speak of the explosion at Parsons Green station

Riz Lateef, a presenter with BBC London was at the scene when it happened. She told the BBC that people were panicking after what appeared to have been an explosion, saying many suffered grazes and cuts while fleeing the scene.

Sophie Raworth, another BBC News presenter who was on her way to work, saw a woman with burns to her legs and face being carried away on a stretcher. A Metro reporter was also at the scene and said they saw passengers who had suffered facial burns, saying “their hair was coming off,” and they had been badly burned.

London Ambulance service responds to the incident

The Metro quotes Natasha Wills, a spokesperson for the London Ambulance Service, as saying they had sent ambulance crews, paramedics and their hazardous area response team to the station, with the first paramedics arriving on the scene in less than five minutes. Wills said their first priority is to assess the injuries from the explosion and that they would provide more information when they have it.

Meanwhile, London Metropolitan Police have since confirmed they are treating the explosion as a Terrorist Incident.
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