The driver came on the tannoy and said 'We have got a problem, don't panic'." Mr Corvett, joined other passengers to force open the train doors with a fire extinguisher Dozens of them escaped down the tunnel. The explosion ripped through a wall in the tunnel and blew a hole in a train on another rail track Seven died in this explosion Simon Corvett, 26, from Oxford, was on the eastbound train He said: " All of sudden there was this massive huge bang It was absolutely deafening and all the windows shattered. The glass did not actually fall out of the windows, it just cracked. Underneath the elegant streets of Bloomsbury, between Kings Cross and Russell Square stations, another bomb exploded; it is believed that at least 21 people died. Reaching this deep-lying tube line became a much more difficult task for the rescue workers than at Liverpool Street, where the older Circle and Metropolitan lines were built much closer to the surface Passengers were trapped from more than two hours. While the emergency services were rushing towards both scenes, there was a third explosion, at 9.17am and several miles to the west, at Edgware Road station, this time on another Circle Line train heading west. Questions were being asked about how such an attack could have occurred when the G8 meeting was taking place, when police and security services might have been expected to be on maximum alert.
A claim of responsibility was made on the Al-Qal'ah - The Fortress - internet site, by a previously unheard of group calling themselves the Secret Organisation Group of al-Qa'ida of Jihad Organisation in Europe. The London attacks are likely to lead to demands for tougher anti-terrorism laws - particularly the introduction of identity cards. They left Muslim leaders, who condemned the bombings, deeply anxious as to the affect on their communities relations with the rest of Britain. Although police and emergency services responded quickly with a carefully prepared major incident plan, the attacks occurred only a few weeks after the security level in the capital had been downgraded to one of the lowest levels since the 2001 attacks in the USA.
It quickly became apparent yesterday morning that al-Qa'ida - or those acting in its name - had finally decided, as many had predicted it would, to attack London at its most vulnerable point. The entire system, the world's largest and oldest underground network, was shut down yesterday morning and remained closed last night, as rescue workers continued to toil in the carriages mangled by the explosions, attempting to retrieve the remaining bodies. Two more blasts on the Tube were to follow in the next 26 minutes. Then, as commuters reeled from one of the explosions looked for other ways to get to work, a packed bus exploded. There had been no intelligence indicating an attack was imminent Nor was there any warning. Police were last night investigating whether it was the first time a suicide bomber had operated on British soil - and there were warnings that the current crisis may not yet be over.