No University of California students are believed to be among
those killed or injured in the terrorist bombings of three subway
trains and one double-decker bus during the morning rush hour
Thursday in London.
The Education Abroad Program currently has 326 UC students
studying in the greater London area, at the Pembroke College at the
University of Cambridge and at the University of Sussex, including
55 UCLA students. While all students at Pembroke have been
accounted for, EAP is still trying to account for a few students at
Sussex, said Bruce Hanna, director of communications for UC
EAP.
The UC is viewing the terrorist attacks as an isolated incident,
and no study abroad programs are being canceled, Hanna said.
In London, police said they could confirm at least 37 people had
been killed and over 700 wounded in what are being called the worst
attacks in England since World War II. At least 45 of the injured
are in serious or critical condition.
The four blasts went off within an hour, beginning at 8:51 a.m.
(12:51 a.m. PST), hitting three subways and a double-decker bus.
Explosions were reported at the Aldgate station near the Liverpool
Street railway terminal, Edgware Road and King’s Cross in
north London, Old Street in the financial district and Russell
Square, near the British Museum.
Authorities immediately shut down all subway and bus lines,
which log 8.4 million passenger trips on an average weekday.
From the G-8 summit in Scotland, Bush warned Americans to be
“extra vigilant,” and the administration raised the
terror alert for mass transit a notch to code orange. Security has
been stepped up in the U.S. Capitol and in train and bus stations
around the country.
A group calling itself the Secret Organization of Al-Qaeda in
Europe has claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying the
blasts were in retaliation for Britain’s involvement in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
Buses became ambulances, carrying dozens of casualties to
hospitals. Medics tended to wounded at King’s Cross in the
station ticket hall. Emergency workers set up a medical command
post in a Hilton hotel near Edgware Road subway station, the scene
of the third attack.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the coordinated attacks
“barbaric” and said they were designed to coincide with
the G-8 summit opening in Gleneagles, Scotland. The attacks also
came only a day after London was named the host of the 2012 summer
Olympic games.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the explosions have
the “hallmarks of an Al-Qaeda related attack”. Neither
Britain’s police nor the intelligence services had any
warning of the attacks, Straw said.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick said there had been
no arrests, and it was unclear whether suicide bombers were
involved.
Much of Europe has gone on increased alert, as online statements
by the Secret Organization of Al-Qaeda in Europe also threatened
attacks in Italy and Denmark, both of which have troops in Iraq.
The statement was published on a Web site popular with Islamic
militants, although its authenticity has not been confirmed.
Despite the attacks, Giselle Davies, an International Olympic
Committee spokeswoman, said the committee still had “full
confidence” in London as the site of the 2012 summer
games.
With reports from Bruin wire services.