Tunnel blast killed at least 21 as emergency crews struggled to reach victims

AT least 21 people were killed when a bomb went off in a tunnel between King’s Cross and Russell Square at 8.56am.

Hours later, paramedics were still fighting to the reach the scene of the blast which happened deep underground in a tunnel on the Piccadilly line.

Police estimated that around 900 people would have been on the train at the time of the attack.

As wounded passengers were dragged out of the tunnel, paramedics treated them on the platforms at King’s Cross.

Some 54 of the injured were taken to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead. Six were seriously injured, others were treated for broken bones and smoke inhalation.

A mobile phone photograph taken by an underground passenger and broadcast on Sky News showed a carriage plunged into darkness.

* KINGS CROSS sits at the heart of one of the most important rail and road junctions in London. Within two miles along the Euston and Marylebone roads can be found four of the capital’s busiest stations: Kings Cross, St Pancras, Euston, and Marylebone. Sandwiched between the stations is the new British Library.

The inner London ring road, connecting with Westway and the routes to Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire runs past the portals of the stations.

Kings Cross was a notorious area for prostitution and drugs but has been undergoing huge gentrification with offices, hotels and restaurants being built to exploit the opening of the fast rail link.