Authorities have confirmed that an explosion on a train at Parsons Green in west London is terror-related.
BREAKING Assistant Commission Mark Rowley confirms Parsons Green explosion caused by the detonation of an improvised explosive device
— Tom Symonds (@BBCTomSymonds) September 15, 2017
Eighteen people have been taken to hospital following the blast, which caused panic on the train and the platform, and led to what witnesses are calling a “stampede“.
Explosion on Parsons Green district line train. Fireball flew down carriage and we just jumped out open door. pic.twitter.com/pGbfotbfsJ
— Rigs (@el_rigs) September 15, 2017
The blast occurred at around 8:20am local time, during rush hour in London. Photos show that the improvised explosive device consisted of a bucket inside a plastic bag that was left inside the train doors.
Witnesses describe a “ball of flame” tearing down the carriage, leaving some with serious burns.
.@sophieraworth saw woman taken to ambulance with burns “from top to toe” after explosion on train at Parsons Green https://t.co/bCKuWdNiZj pic.twitter.com/RvTnHq0T7E
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) September 15, 2017
Buzzfeed spoke to several people who were on the scene, one of whom said the stampede caused by the explosion made her fear for her life.
I got on the train, it was a normal train. The doors were closing and we heard really loud awful screams either from the carriage next to us or one along. There was lots and lots of screaming and people shouting run at the top of their voice.
The ensuing panic was “a real stampede and crush“, trapping “layers” of people.
There was a poor little boy smashed into the floor with his face bleeding and screaming. There was a woman shouting that she was pregnant.
The most traumatic thing was the weight of these bodies piling onto me and just thinking, this is it, I’m going to die.
Chard head from the fireball at #ParsonsGreen pic.twitter.com/9yohdYuHBj
— Peter Crowley (@cupid5tunt) September 15, 2017
Police say they are treating the incident as terror related, and security experts who spoke to Buzzfeed said it was likely the explosive device was the work of an “amateur extremist“. One former MI5 counter-terror officer said:
My instinct says this is likely to be an ‘amateur extremist’ similar to Exeter Giraffe cafe bomber who was radicalised online and set fire to his leg with a viable but badly made device some years ago.
The Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are investigating after the incident at #ParsonsGreen tube station is declared a terrorist incident
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) September 15, 2017
So far there are no fatalities from the blast. We’ll keep you updated as the story develops.