22 injured in London Metro train blast

LONDON: A home-made bomb on a packed rush-hour Metro train in London engulfed a carriage in flames and injured 22 people on Friday in what police said was Britain’s fifth terrorism incident this year, but apparently failed to fully explode.

The passengers on board a train heading into the capital fled in panic as the fire erupted at Parsons Green underground station in West London at 8.20am (0720 GMT).

Some suffered burns while others were injured in a stampede to escape. The National Health Service said 22 people had been taken to London hospitals, most believed to be suffering flash burns. None were thought to be in a serious condition, the ambulance service said.

"We now assess that this was a detonation of an improvised explosive device," Britain’s top counter-terrorism officer Mark Rowley told reporters. Police said officers were making urgent inquiries involving hundreds of detectives backed by the intelligence services to find out who was responsible. Rowley declined to say if the suspected bomber had been on the train, saying it was a live investigation. Pictures taken at the scene showed a slightly-charred white bucket with a supermarket freezer bag on the floor of one train carriage.

The bucket, still intact, was in flames and there appeared to be wires coming out of the top. "I was on second carriage from the back. I just heard a kind of whoosh. I looked up and saw the whole carriage engulfed in flames making its way towards me," Ola Fayankinnu, who was on the train, said. "There were phones, hats, bags all over the place and when I looked back I saw a bag with flames,” Charlie Craven said he had just got on the train when the device exploded.

"I looked around and saw this massive fireball . . . coming down the carriage. "He said terrified passengers fled, fearing a second explosion or a gunman, with people being knocked to the ground and crushed in the stampede to escape. Outside the station, a woman was carried off on a stretcher with her legs covered in a foil blanket while others were led away swathed in bandages.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump sparked fury in London and yet another pointed rebuke from Prime Minster Theresa May after he claimed "loser terrorists" behind a botched London train attack were known to British police.

Trump took to Twitter to condemn the attack. "Another attack in London by a loser terrorist," the US president tweeted. "These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!" Trump said, appearing to reveal undisclosed intelligence from the headquarters of London´s Metropolitan police force.

That electronic broadside brought a terse public response from May, who warned the US president and others not to speculate. "I never think it’s helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation," May told journalists in London.

Trump’s latest comments were similarly described as "unhelpful" by London’s Metropolitan Police.

Nick Timothy, May’s former chief of staff, also branded the US leader’s tweet "unhelpful." "True or not -- and I’m sure he doesn’t know -- this is so unhelpful from leader of our ally and intelligence partner," Timothy wrote on Twitter.