LONDON - Rescue workers inched through dangerous subway tunnels deep under London on Friday to hunt for clues and possibly bodies after bombers killed more than 50 people in rush-hour blasts. London's police chief, Sir Ian Blair, described as "extraordinary horror" the scene at one underground blast site where more bodies were believed to be inside a blasted subway car. One police source said there could be more than 10 bodies still at that site.
A maintenance worker, who did not want to be identified, said he had reached the deepest site early on Friday and described “awful” scenes, with several bodies in a subway train. “We got up to the carriage, although it was very dark there at the time,” he said. “The smell was awful.” Police said investigation and recovery were hampered at that site because of fears the subway tunnel was unsafe. Engineers were examining structural damage. Andy Hayman, of the London police specialist operations branch, spoke of the “extreme circumstances” under which rescue services were working, saying they faced the hazards of tunnel collapse, vermin and “dangerous substances” in the air.
The confirmed death toll from the four blasts stands at 49, but Blair referred to more than 50 people dead given that police had yet to recover bodies from one of the bombed subway trains. The bodies of 13 people killed on the double-decker bus that was hit Thursday had been recovered, Blair said, giving the first official tally from that attack. Of the 700 people wounded, Blair added, 22 were still in critical condition. Blair added that "we have made no arrests at this stage. We have got lots and lots and lots of witnesses." Meantime, desperate people hunted for missing relatives at hospitals, while others issued appeals for information. Commuters left flowers and notes at one of the bombed stations.
Al-Qaida cell? Blair said that the preliminary presumption is that the bombers were part of an al-Qaida cell and still at large. “This has all the hallmarks of al-Qaida ... but we are in the beginning of a very complex and lengthy investigation and there is nothing specific that I am aware of,” Ian Blair told reporters. “There is likely to still be a cell," Blair said, adding that no evidence had been found to suggest suicide bombings. "Whether these people are still in the UK is a question. We must remain vigilant. It is a national issue, not just for London.”
Assistant Police Commissioner Andy Hayman said that officials still hadn’t gotten near the subway cars of the Russell Square station, fearing that the tunnel is unsafe. Twenty-one dead were confirmed in that blast. He said officials believe the bombs were placed on the floors of the three subway cars that were hit. He said the initial investigation suggests that each bomb had less than 10 pounds of explosives and could have easily fit in a backpack. Investigators said they would look for evidence in the debris and in the video footage from some 1,800 cameras in London’s subway stations.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke urged Londoners to remain vigilant. "We have to have ... maximum consideration of the risk of another attack, and that's why our total effort today is focused on identifying the perpetrators and bringing them to justice," he told British Broadcasting Corp. radio early Friday.
