Four failed rucksack bombers hunted by police

The hunt was underway today for four suspected suicide bombers who targeted three Tube trains and a bus in the latest attack on London.

Police were examining evidence at each of the sites of the attempted explosions after the recovery of four devices, which were contained in rucksacks.

Forensic experts will try to establish whether there was a link with the explosives found in West Yorkshire in the wake of the July 7 suicide bombings in the capital.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said the intention of the suspects “must have been to kill”.

No-one was seriously hurt in yesterday’s incidents.

Detectives believe the bombers were still at large after it was thought they received witness reports of people running away from three of the attempted blast sites.

No arrests were made directly in connection with the blasts.

Scotland Yard said a man held in the Tottenham Court Road area yesterday was released without charge last night.

Another man held at Downing Street remained in custody but again was not thought to be directly linked to the attempted bombings.

Three of the four devices were thought to be of a similar size and weight to the bombs used in the July 7 attacks in the capital. The fourth was smaller and appears to have been contained in a small plastic box.

It was understood that an initial examination of the devices showed they contained constituents which appear similar to the explosives found in a bath at a property in West Yorkshire.

Police believe they represent a serious attempt to detonate explosives on the London transport network in a similar way to the bombing which killed 56 people and injured hundreds.

It was believed that on three of the devices the detonators went off but the bomb failed to explode. On the fourth it was thought the detonator itself failed.

Police would not confirm or deny reports that one of the devices was a nail bomb.

The attacks began at 12.25pm yesterday when police evacuated Shepherd’s Bush Tube station after an attempted explosion on the Hammersmith and City line.

Almost simultaneously, attacks took place on the Northern line at Oval underground station and on the Victoria line at Warren Street Tube station.

An explosion was heard on the Number 26 bus in Hackney in east London more than an hour later.

The targets were in the north, south, east and west of London – the shape seemingly of a “burning cross”, which was referred to in a statement claiming responsibility for the July 7 attacks.

Frightened passengers on the tube trains reported hearing small bangs and seeing smoke in the carriages.

Eyewitnesses also reported seeing suspects fleeing three of the scenes - Shepherd’s Bush, Oval and Warren Street.

A man spoke of the terrifying moment when he came face to to face with one of the suspected suicide bombers at Shepherd’s Bush.

Business analyst Abisha Moyo told the Daily Mail he heard a bang like a “pistol going off” and saw a fellow Tube passenger lying on the floor of their carriage.

He approached him and asked “are you all right, mate” but was then stunned to see the man was lying on top of a rucksack with smoke coming out.

The suspect then calmly left the rucksack behind, jumped on the tracks and walked away down the line, said Mr Moyo.

Witnesses at the Oval Station blast said a florist had told people of how he tried to grab a man escaping the station.

Others said three men struggled with the suspect as the doors of the tube train opened but he managed to escape.

Three armed officers were seen running into University College Hospital, near Warren Street, following reports of someone running away from the Warren Street incident.

There were reports that staff at University College Hospital had been passed an internal memo asking them to look out for a black, possibly Asian man, around 6ft 2ins tall, with wires protruding from a hole in his blue top.

They were reportedly instructed to call 999 if they saw him.

But Professor Jim Ryan, who led hospital’s medical teams treating the injured from the July 7 bombings, said this was an “absolute rumour”, adding that if any memo had been sent he would have seen it.

In Hackney, specialist officers were today examining a rucksack left on the top deck of the Number 26 bus.

Stagecoach, which owns the bus involved in the incident in Hackney Road, said the driver had reported hearing a bang at 1.30pm.

The bus had left Waterloo and was in Shoreditch when the incident happened.

Driver Mark Maybanks, 38, told The Sun newspaper how he hit the brakes seconds after the explosion, which came from the bag abandoned on the top deck.

“I went upstairs and there was a funny smell – I had never smelt anything like it before. There was smoke in the air,” he said.

“I’ve never been so frightened as when I went up the stairs. After what happened earlier this month, I didn’t know what I would find.”

At a press conference last night Sir Ian Blair said: “Clearly the intention must have been to kill. You do not do this with another intention.

“I think the important thing is that the intentions of the terrorists have not been successful.”

Sir Ian said he was not yet in a position to say whether yesterday’s attacks were connected to the July 7 bombings.

“I think that will take a little time,” he said.

But he added: “There is a resonance here – there were four attacks and there were four attacks before.”

He added: “We do believe that this may represent a significant breakthrough, in the sense that there is forensic material at these scenes.”

He refused to go into any further detail about the investigation and appealed for patience as detectives pieced together all the elements of the investigation.

Prime Minister Tony Blair urged people to remain calm, and said that it would play into the terrorists’ hands if people allowed themselves to be deterred from going about their day-to-day lives.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone repeated calls for workers and inhabitants of the city not to let the attacks prevent them from their usual routines.

Witness centres were set up at each site, and 100 detectives gathered evidence from people who were at the scenes of the attacks.

At each of the sites, people were evacuated from their homes and businesses so that officers could have a clean sweep for forensic evidence.

Police said that no trace of chemical or biological agents had been been found at any of the scenes.

The Government’s civil contingencies committee – known as Cobra – met in response to the latest incidents.

Mr Blair also went ahead with a pre-arranged meeting with senior ministers and leading members of the security and intelligence services.

The London stock market held its nerve in the wake of the blasts, closing slightly up.

Westminster City Council said the support centre and helpline set up after the July 7 bombings were still open and ready to help anyone affected by recent events.

The centre – run by the council, police and the Red Cross – is based at the Royal Horticultural Halls and Conference Centre in Elverton Street, Westminster, central London.

The 24-hour support line, run by the British Red Cross, has also received hundreds of calls.

The number for the helpline is 00 44 207 8777 492 from abroad.