http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/07/21...tube/index.htmlMore blasts hit London transport
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Four "explosions or attempts at explosions" have hit three London Underground stations and a bus two weeks after the July 7 terror attacks, the city's police chief has said.
Thursday's small blasts came two weeks to the day after bombs on three Tube trains and a bus killed 52 people and the four bombers.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair said the situation was "absolutely under control." He told reporters there had been "one confirmed casualty and that is not a fatality."
"We know that we've had four explosions or attempts at explosions. It is still pretty unclear as to what's happened.
"The bombs appear to be smaller than on the last occasion but we don't know the implications of all this yet and we're going to have to examine the scene very carefully.
"The explosions were pretty close to being simultaneous but it will take time to fully establish that," Blair added.
At a news conference, Prime Minister Tony Blair praised the police operation and urged Londoners to remain calm.
"We know why these things are done. They're done to scare people and to frighten them, to make them anxious and worried," he said.
Blair, who referred questions on operations to police and emergency services, told reporters: "Police and security services are pretty clear about what's happened.
"The police have done their very best and the security services, too, in this situation. And I think we just have got to react calmly and continue with our business as much as possible as normal."
Blair appeared with visiting Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who praised the resolve and bravery of the British people.
Amid the massive security alert across the British capital, armed police were seen on television drawing their guns near Blair's official Downing Street residence as they detained a man. There was no indication the man was linked to the blasts.
In the United States, the White House said President George W. Bush had been informed of the incidents. (Full story)
News of the incidents first came at 12:38 p.m. (7:38 a.m. ET). At 12:45 p.m., a call came in from Warren Street.
All three stations affected Thursday were evacuated, and four Tube lines -- Hammersmith & City, Victoria, Northern and Bakerloo -- were closed, according to London transport officials.
The area around Warren Street station was sealed off while the bomb squad checked for further explosive devices.
ITN reported authorities were pushing people further back from the station, and witnesses reported seeing men in chemical suits going down into the station.
Police later said after initial checks that no trace of chemical agents was found at any of the stations.
Meanwhile in east London, a bus driver reported a "bang" from the top of his double-decker in Hackney, according to the bus company's spokesman.
The spokesman said the windows of the bus were blown out, although this was denied by a police officer at the scene.
"I have seen the bus. There were no windows blown out," the officer told Reuters.
The ambulance service had no details on the Shepherd's Bush station incident.
Bryce Elder, a witness near the Shepherd's Bush station, said there was a heavy police presence but "no real sense of panic." (Witness accounts)
Police helicopters flew overhead, and areas near Shepherd's Bush station were evacuated. Elder said the station was not very busy.
CNN London producer Katie Turner reported a heavy police presence near the Oval station, including about 30 police vehicles. Roads about 500 meters from the station were blocked off to vehicular traffic, she said.
A woman who was on the train at Oval when the incident happened said she didn't hear a bang but saw people pushing themselves into her carriage.
She said there was a general mood of panic. The train, which was moving when the incident happened, was not packed with people, she said.
One explosives expert told CNN the "sour smell" reported by people coming out of the Underground would likely have come from two sources: a rucksack catching fire; and explosives themselves catching fire after a detonator failed to explode them. The explosives could actually burn and give a toxic smell.
Scotland Yard also said an "incident" at University College London Hospital (UCL), where armed officers were deployed, was over.
Sky TV had reported police were searching the hospital, which is near Warren Street, for a man wearing a blue shirt with wires protruding from a hole in the back.
