Police set to complete bomb scene search

Police investigating the Ealing bomb blast were tonight hopeful that they could finish their search for forensic evidence within hours.

Detectives were hoping to complete the search by 10pm, which could allow more of the cordon to be lifted, an Ealing Council official said.

Two victims of the blast remain in hospital, 10 residents are staying in hotels, up to 50 properties are still without electricity and much of the town centre is sealed off.

Council officials said surveyors needed to check buildings, cables and pipes at the scene but added that initial assessments had not found any buildings which needed to be demolished because of structural damage.

The community was today beginning the slow task of returning the area to normality, as around 100 people gathered to pray for those injured in the explosion.

Father Peter Needham, assistant priest at Christ the Saviour in Ealing, said: ‘‘It is important that this service happens every Sunday. If this service is stopped then the bombers have their way because they stop the freedom of our own minds and souls.’’

He added: ‘‘The commercial heart of Ealing has been damaged, but limbs and lives have not been damaged as badly as they could have done.’’

Fr Needham, who was among those who helped the injured in the immediate wake of the blast, called on worshippers to ask for forgiveness for the terrorists.

Eleven people were injured when a Saab saloon car blew up in a street bustling with young people in the early hours of Friday morning.

Scotland Yard officers said they believed it could signal a ‘‘murderous’’ new phase in the campaign by extremists opposed to the Northern Ireland peace process, which is at a critical stage.

And the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary said he had ‘‘suspicions’’ about who could be responsible for the bomb.

Sir Ronnie Flanagan said there was not yet enough evidence to bring anyone to justice, but told BBC1’s Breakfast With Frost: ‘‘We certainly have suspicions’’.

He said it was vital the public worked with police to catch the bombers and warned people to remain vigilant.

Ealing Broadway Tube station has reopened, and the cordon sealing off the bomb site was today reduced to allow a large section of the road to reopen.

Ealing Broadway itself remained closed and police warned that a crater left in the road by the force of the blast would have to be assessed before traffic would be allowed back on it.

The road was further damaged by a burst water main which washed away soil from beneath the road surface, police said.

Detective Chief Inspector Trevor Barnes told a public meeting that some people should be able to return to the scene of the blast tomorrow, with police supervision, to inspect their properties and recover any belongings.

John Birch, the council officer in charge in emergency situations, told the meeting: ‘‘Substantial steps have been taken and for a lot of people there is a return to normality.

‘‘That remains our overall objective but I must stress public safety still remains paramount in delivering that.

‘‘As a community you have responded magnificently and demonstrated great patience in difficult circumstances.’’

A spokeswoman for Ealing Hospital said two victims of the blast who were still in hospital would not be discharged until tomorrow at the earliest.

Andrea Carragher, 23, is being treated for back injuries and damage caused to her back and thighs by flying glass.

A 28-year-old man has undergone surgery to clean and set a broken and dislocated shoulder.

The bomb, which caused the highest casualty toll in mainland Britain since the Manchester bomb in June 1996, was hidden in the car left near Ealing Broadway station.

Police received a warning just 27 minutes before the blast and said it was so vague that it was lucky the scene was not one of mass murder.

They have warned people to remain vigilant and have asked anyone with information about the attack to contact the anti-terrorist confidential hotline on 0800 789321.

Meanwhile, detectives have uncovered a bus ticket, timed and dated to within an hour of March’s blast outside the BBC Television Centre in west London, which is thought to have a fingerprint belonging to a suspected Real IRA terrorist, according to the Sunday Times.

It is believed the attackers escaped into central London on a bus after leaving the explosive in a taxi parked outside the Shepherd’s Bush studios. The ticket was found in a skip full of rubbish from the bus.

The bomb went off as experts attempted to perform a controlled explosion.

Scotland Yard said it was examining a ticket found after the attack which was ‘‘of interest’’.