An improvised explosive device (IED) injured 30 commuters rushing to work at 8:20 AM on board an Eastbound District Line from Parsons Green station to Southwest London on Friday. The incident generated panic, which led to passengers frantically trying to escape the commotion. The disruption of train services was in effect due to a manhunt and the general investigation of the terrorist incident.
Islamic State claims responsibility for the blast
Hours after the explosion, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the unlawful act of harming innocent civilians caught in the bombing, reports Amaq News Agency, the ISIS news site.
Prime Minister Theresa May condemned the action and called it a cowardly act. The alert level has now been brought down from "critical to severe", reports Fox News.
CNN reported that the manhunt resulted in the capture of an 18-year-old Iraqi suspect on September 16. Later that day, a second suspect was arrested. He was a 21-year-old man from Syria allegedly responsible for the subway attack at Parsons Green Train Station. Both suspects are foster children of an elderly couple, Ronald and Penelope Jones.
The two suspects arrested over last week's London subway bombing were both fostered by a British couple. https://t.co/gJdfCtYxMu pic.twitter.com/j3s5V9eVUo
— WDTN (@WDTN) September 18, 2017
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley urged commuting witnesses to come forward with any evidence that can connect people to the crime.
Rowley believes that several individuals were responsible for this act of terror. He is asking anyone who saw or took any photos andvideos of the incident to cooperate with authorities.
London's Mayor Sadiq Khan said that the city condemns the heinous crime and urged Londoners to stay calm and vigilant in this time of crisis.
He thanked emergency response teams that rushed to the scene.
Witnesses to terrorism
Several witnesses narrated how the incident took place in the underground tube. Natalie Belford, a 42-year-old hairdresser, shared her account of the event where she was on her belly on the deck of the train, feeling the heat of the explosion on her face.
She said the train was full of people, and it was hard to escape with commuters blocking the doors.
Some commuters witnessed that most injuries were burns inflicted by the wall of fire erupting from the IED. Most of the burn injuries were minor and were not life-threatening.
A photo going viral in the social media depicts a white pail in a bag with dangling wires. Experts said that the IED failed to complete the explosive trail. If it had done so, the damage could have been severe and more injuries inflicted, CNN reports.
