London subway terror attack: 18 people hospitalized, ambulance service says

LONDON – Latest on an incident at a subway station in London:

• Police say the fire on a London subway train was caused by the detonation of an improvised explosive device.
• Police say it was a terrorist incident and is being handled by the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism unit.
• Police said there were 18 people injured, with most suffering flash burns.
• There will be an increased police presence on London as the incident is investigated.
• Police did not provide details on any suspects.

A reported explosion at a train station sent commuters stampeding in panic on Friday at the height of London's morning rush hour.

Photos taken inside a District Line train show a white plastic bucket inside a supermarket shopping bag. Flames and what appear to be wires can be seen. London ambulance services said they had sent multiple crews to the Parsons Green station, and police advised people to avoid the area in southwest London.

A commuter whose train had just stopped there, Richard Aylmer-Hall, said he saw several people injured, apparently trampled as they fled.

"There was a woman on the platform who said she had seen a bag, a flash and a bang, so obviously something had gone off," he said. "I saw crying women, there was lots of shouting and screaming, there was a bit of a crush on the stairs going down to the streets."

Aerial footage later showed other commuters being evacuated along the elevated track.

The ambulance service said multiple crews had been dispatched to the above-ground subway station.

London's Metropolitan Police and ambulance services confirmed "an incident" at the Parsons Green subway station in the southwest of the capital. The underground operator said services have been cut along the line.

The incident comes as tensions are high in London, which has been struck repeatedly by extremist attacks this year.

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