Three held in Heathrow terror swoop

POLICE yesterday arrested three people at Heathrow Airport under the British anti-terrorism laws, but refused to link the suspects to last week’s bombings in London.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick of the Metropolitan Police said it would be "inappropriate and pure speculation to draw any direct linkages to the attack in London".

Mr Paddick also said earlier that an unspecified number of bodies have been recovered from a subway train hit by the blasts, but conditions underground were still "very hot, very dusty, very dangerous".

The likely death toll from Thursday's attacks was 49, but police said it could rise after teams of police, forensic scientists and investigators search for bodies still in London's vast Underground transport system.

It was not known how many bodies remained inside the Russell Square subway tunnel, but difficult conditions including temperatures of 60 degrees celsius, asbestos and rats had been hampering the recovery effort.

All visible bodies have been removed from the four blast sites although rescue workers were continuing to search under a Tube train between King's Cross and Russell Square.

It had been feared the number of victims may eventually exceed 70 but detectives said that was highly unlikely.

The bodies are being taken to a temporary mortuary at an undisclosed military site but none have yet been formally identified.

British Transport Police deputy chief constable Andy Trotter said: "The total number of bodies we have at the moment is 49, including those in the mortuary and those recovered from the trains awaiting removal.

"There is still a possibility of there being more under the Russell Square train. The rescue workers are moving through towards the back of the train, where they're going to continue to search for bodies and forensic material."

Four more victims of Thursday's bombings were discharged from hospital yesterday, leaving 62 patients still being treated.

Police liaison officers have been sent to 59 families who fear their loved ones are either dead or critically injured.

And 31 families have visited a 24-hour assistance centre for relatives of the missing in central London.

Last night the family of a 28-year-old woman said they believed she was among the dead at Russell Square.

Helen Jones, an accountant with Senior Equity Partners in central London, was believed to have been travelling on the Piccadilly line train at the time of the attacks and has not been in contact with her family in Annan, in the Scottish Borders, since Thursday.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke warned that the terrorists could be planning further attacks but said he was "very optimistic" they would be caught.

In the wake of the attacks he is expected to propose further anti-terrorism measures including that records of all private telephone calls, text messages and emails be retained by telecommunications firms and passed on to the police and security services.

Mr Paddick said police had received 1,700 calls to their anti-terrorist hot-line.

He said: "A considerable number of these calls are proving to be very, very valuable to us."

Police have so far arrested no suspects for the bombings.

Police said there had been some incidents of religious or racially motivated hate crime since the attacks and one report involving a serious injury, although they gave no further details.

At King's Cross station a continuous stream of people filed into a small garden which has become a shrine to the victims.

Hundreds of bouquets have been placed in the garden and notes of sympathy have been left by visitors.

Posters of the missing line the walls around the station.

In a service just yards from the scene of the number 30 bus explosion at Tavistock Square, hundreds of people said prayers for the dead, the 700 who were injured and their families.