Blair vows to bring bombers to justice

06:22 AEST Fri Jul 8 2005

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has sworn to bring to justice the terrorists behind the deadly bomb attacks on London.

At least 37 people were killed in the four bomb blasts on the underground and a double-decker bus that brought carnage and chaos to London in Thursday's early morning rush hour.

Among the more than 700 people injured are six Australians who have been hospitalised.

The Australian High Commission in London says it has received no reports of Australian fatalities.

The coordinated blasts hit three underground train lines in central London between 8.51am and 9.09am and a fourth ripped apart a double-decker bus at 9.47am.British police are examining claims from an al-Qaeda group in Europe that it was responsible.

A defiant Blair immediately returned to London from the Group of Eight meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland, and issued a warning to the terrorists.

"They should not and they must not succeed," a visibly shaken Blair said in a televised address."

When they try to intimidate us we will not be intimidated.

When they seek to change our country or our way of life by these methods we will not be changed.

"When they try to divide our people or weaken our resolve, we will not be divided and our resolve will hold firm.

"We will show by our spirit and dignity and by a quiet but true strength that there is in the British people, that our values will long outlast theirs.

"There will of course now be the most intense police and security service action to make sure we bring those responsible to justice.

"London's security level was reduced just last month from severe to substantial and police said they had no warning nor intelligence of the attacks.But they feared there could still be more.

"We don't know if this is over yet," Deputy Assistant Police Commissioner Brian Paddick said.

The day after London was jubilantly celebrating being awarded the right to stage the 2012 Olympics, the city was numb with shock.

The attacks paralysed London's transport system and the capital was in chaos as workers milled outside evacuated buildings and other normally busy areas were eerily empty and silent.

Seven hours after the first blast, sirens continued to ring out throughout the streets, heightening fears that there were further attacks.The entire underground service was shut down, central buses were halted and overland trains were severely affected.

Some of the underground lines have suffered major structural damage which could take months to repair.

Police told the public not to travel and to stay where they were.Many faced a long trek home.

Emergency services have vowed that all transport, if it is running by Friday local time, will be thoroughly checked and searched.

A previously unknown group calling itself Secret Group of al-Qaeda's Jihad in Europe has claimed responsibility for the four blasts.

"We understand a group that are claiming to be linked to al-Qaeda have claimed responsibility, we will be looking at that as well as any other leads," Paddick said."But at this stage we don't know whether that's a genuine claim or not.

"The first blast went off at 8.51am between Liverpool St and Aldgate East tube stations on the edge of London's financial district, killing seven commuters.

Five minutes later, a bomb exploded on a train as it left King's Cross station bound for Russell Square, killing 21. At 9.17am, five people died on a train leaving Edgware Road station on the way to Paddington.Half an hour after the Edgware Road bomb, a bus in Tavistock Square, around the corner from Russell Square, had its roof ripped off and passengers were thrown into the air.

From each affected train station, bloodied commuters emerged with ripped clothes and blackened faces, some receiving treatment on the road.

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