Police release CCTV images of suspected bombers
A fifth suspect was shot dead by police at a Tube station but detectives believe that members of the terrorist cell are still on the run and bent on carrying out further attacks.
Police think the four men pictured on CCTV footage released yesterday were responsible for rucksack bombs found on underground trains at Oval, Warren Street and Shepherd's Bush stations and on a number 26 bus in Shoreditch on Thursday. None of them detonated properly and there were no serious injuries, but the strategy for the attacks was almost a replica of the July 7 attacks which killed 56.
In a further development one man was arrested last night in connection with the police investigation in Stockwell, close to where the fatal shooting happened.
The man was thought to be the son-in-law of an older woman living at the address raided by police.
The arrested man's wife and young son were also led away by police, according to residents living in the same block of flats.
David Benn-Hirsch, deputy chair of the local tenants' association, said the older woman had lived in the flat with her family for many years. He said they were Muslims, originally from Ethiopia.
He added: "I know them as peaceful neighbours and I'm shocked to hear about what has happened. The woman always stopped to say hello to me and when you see a person like that around here who respects you it is one in 10."
Scotland Yard assistant commissioner Andy Hayman warned members of the public not to approach the men pictured in the CCTV footage under any circumstances.
He said: "These are four men we urgently want to trace in connection with attempts to detonate four explosive devices on the transport system in central London yesterday.
"It's crucial that detectives are able to question them about yesterday's events at the Oval, Shepherd's Bush and Warren Street London Underground stations and a route 26 bus in Hackney Road.
"We have two requests. Firstly anyone who has information about where these men currently are, you should immediately called 999 and ask for urgent police response.
"The public are asked not to approach them."
He urged anyone who believed they knew the identities of the men or their whereabouts to call the anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair said the shooting of the man at Stockwell Tube station today was "directly linked' to anti-terror operations.
He said officers hunting the bombers were now facing "previously unknown threats and great danger."
And he repeated his call for all sections of society to help in the fight against terror. "We need the understanding and co-operation of all the communities," he said.
He appealed to people not to be swayed by rumours about the bombings and those who carried them out.
"There are rumours sweeping London and I appeal to people to listen to the facts as they emerge.
"This operation is targeted against criminals - not any community or section of a community."
Speaking about Thursday's failed attacks, Mr Hayman said: "Initial forensic examination shows that a bomb partially detonated at each of the four sites.
"At this stage it is believed the devices consisted of homemade explosives and were contained in dark-coloured bags or rucksacks. It is too early to tell how these were detonated.
"It is time for the public to do what they are good at, which is to support investigations. It is for us to decide whether any information which is given is of relevance."
Mr Hayman said there were similarities between Thursday's attempted bombing and the July 7 attacks. "Yesterday clearly does bear similarities to the bomb attacks in London on July 7 in as much as there were three underground trains and a bus that were targeted," he said.
"Other features are emerging which are of interest to detectives.
"We are actively pursuing lines of inquiry."
THE first image released by police of four men they "urgently need to trace" in connection with Thursday's failed bombings shows a young man apparently fleeing after leaving a bomb at Oval tube station.
CCTV images show a man in a black sweater running away from the Northern Line at Oval station at 12.34pm.
Police believe he had travelled northbound from Stockwell. His dark top had the letters New York written across the front.
The man has a shaven head or very short hair.
The top was later found in Cowley Road in Brixton, close to where a suspected suicide bomber was shot dead around 10am yesterday at Stockwell Tube station. He is believed to have left the device on a Northern Line train travelling northbound near Oval station. At 12.30pm emergency services were called to the station.
About 20 or 30 passengers were evacuated from a train saying that they had seen "white smoke". There were reports of a man dumping a rucksack in a carriage then fleeing as the doors closed.
THE second image shows a middle-aged man with a moustache wearing a grey T-shirt with a palm tree on it standing on the top deck of the number 26 bus.
He is also wearing a white baseball cap and a dark jacket and trousers.
The image is timed at 12.53pm - 37 minutes before the bus driver reported hearing a bang followed by a smell of smoke coming from the upper deck
When the driver went upstairs to investigate, the windows were blown out.
Gym company Fitness First said that the rucksack thought to have been used to carry yesterday's bus bomb was one of hundreds of thousands of similar bags given as gifts or incentives to customers each year.
Specialist officers were examining the rucksack, bearing the Fitness First name, found on the top deck of the number 26 bus in Hackney, east London.
THE third image shows a man leaving Warren Street underground station at about 12.39pm on Thursday.
He is wearing a dark shirt, which appears to be dark blue and has at least three buttons undone from the neck down.
Underneath he is wearing another top.
He has short cropped hair, a slightly receding hairline and what looks like a beard and moustache.
At 12.45pm, London Ambulance Service sent five vehicles to Warren Street after reports of a rucksack exploding on a train in a tunnel just outside the station.
On witness said he saw smoke coming out of the rucksack following the blast.
It was the second device to be detonated on Thursday.
A device had been left on a train carriage on the northbound Victoria Line.
Witnesses later reported that a man was seen fleeing the scene.
THE fourth image shows a man at Westbourne Park underground station at 12.21pm.
He travelled westbound on the Hammersmith and City line to Shepherd's Bush underground where he ran off.
The Shepherd's Bush explosion was the first on Thursday.
Police evacuated the station following an attempt to set off an explosion at 12.25pm.
A bomb had been left at Shepherd's Bush on a Hammersmith and City line train travelling westbound.
He is wearing a dark shirt and trousers, and is later seen wearing a white vest.
The man also wears a dark baseball cap with a motif on the front, light brown boots, and carries a dark coloured rucksack on his back.
He appears to have some kind of jewellery, possibly a watch or a bracelet, on his right wrist.
He seems to be looking directly over his right shoulder at the CCTV camera.
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