Second wave of blasts similar to July 7 atrocities

YESTERDAY’S second wave of attacks on London bear striking similarities with the devastating July 7 atrocities.

But there are also some crucial differences between the two bombing campaigns.

Uncanny similarities include:

* Incidents came exactly two weeks after the July 7 wave which killed 56 and injured more than 700. Like July 7, they targeted three Tube lines and one bus.

* The Tube lines hit yesterday - the Victoria, Northern and Hammersmith and City - all pass through King’s Cross, where the July 7 bombers are known to have met.

* Both waves were coordinated - police said the three Tube bombs on July 7 detonated within 50 seconds while yesterday’s were “almost simultaneous”.

* The July 7 bomb on the number 30 bus targeted the top deck, and yesterday’s incident also appears to have been on the upper level.

* Witnesses of yesterday’s attacks spoke of the perpetrators carrying rucksacks, and the July 7 bombers were caught on CCTV carrying their deadly cargo in similar bags.

* There was speculation that the July 7 bombers set off to detonate their bombs at the north, south, east and west of the city, and if so, yesterday’s pattern reflects the same attack.

* Warren Street station is less than half a mile from the scene of the number 30 bus bomb.

Some of the differences between the two attacks may, fortunately, have contributed to yesterday’s bombings shedding far less blood.

The explosions were far smaller and were timed in the middle of the day rather than at morning rush hour.

One of yesterday’s incidents at a Tube station, Shepherd’s Bush, was at ground level rather than deep below ground.

Crucially, at least some of the new attacks do not appear to have been carried out by suicide bombers.