British cops treating explosion at London train station as “terrorist attempt”

An unexpected explosion at the Parsons Green Underground station in the southwest of the capital, London, is being treated by cops in the UK as a “terrorist attempt”.

Reports say the explosion occurred inside a packed rush-hour commuter train with armed police rushing to the scene in response to a distress call of fire on a train at the station.

“Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, the senior national coordinator for CT policing, has declared it a terrorist incident,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Friday.

“The tube had just pulled into the station, and as the doors were opening there was a loud explosion and ball of flame which moved along the corridor of the train just where I was,” eyewitness Martin Abams, who was riding in the subway car at the time, said. “I looked back and saw a bit of confusion with people rushing to get off the train. I saw a blue bag, with some smoke, and flames, which appeared to be coming out of the bag.”

Read also: 3 more suspects arrested in connection with London terror attacks

Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego, reporting from London, said media accounts suggested that several people were injured but it was “unclear whether it had to do with the stampede or incident”.

“It is rush hour in London and the stations are filled to the brim with people, so it seems like it was a chaotic scene,” she said.

“It seems to be some kind of a crude device in a plastic bag that exploded, but emergency services are still evaluating.”

The UK has witnessed a series of attacks this year, with the bombing of a concert in Manchester in May, a stabbing spree around the London Bridge area in June and a March attack in which a man drove a car into crowds on Westminster Bridge.

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