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 that could not be verified, saying the bombings were punishment for 
 Britain's involvement in American-led military campaigns in Iraq and 
 Afghanistan. The group also threatened to attack Italy and Denmark for their 
 support. The police raised the official death toll this morning from to 50 
 from 37, and said that of the 700 or so injured, about 22 people were in 
 serious and critical condition in hospitals. About 350 others were treated 
 at the scene and about 100 were released after being hospitalized overnight. 
  
 Sir Ian, of the police, speaking of the effort to extricate the dead aboard 
 a train in the tunnel near the King's Cross station, where at least 21 
 people died, asked the public for patience, saying it was unclear how soon 
 they would reach the bodies, given the possibility of tunnel collapse and 
 other factors. 
  
 The police said the bombs that exploded on the trains had probably been 
 placed on the floor, while it was unclear where the bomb on the bus had been 
 placed.  Officials also said that it was too early to tell how they had been 
 detonated. But they said that there was no evidence of a suicide bomber, or 
 that one person had detonated each explosive device. 
  
 Prime Minister Blair scoffed at a reporter's suggestion that the authorities 
 might have in some way failed by not preventing the attacks. "Those people 
 who killed the innocent and caused such bloodshed," he said, "they're solely 
 responsible." 
  
 On Wednesday, London had bubbled over with joy at winning the 2012 Olympics. 
 On Thursday, commuters on the city's subways - the Tube - were plunged into 
 the nightmare of a subterranean bloodbath at 8:51 a.m., when the first 
 explosion blasted a subway train 100 yards into the tunnel at the Liverpool 
 Street station, according to a police chronology. At least seven people died 
 there. 
  
 The next explosion occurred at 8:56 near the King's Cross station, where the 
 death toll was at least 21, the police said. 
  
 Twenty-one minutes later, at 9:17, a third blast ripped through a train 
 coming into the underground station at Edgware Road, killing at least seven. 
  
 Above ground, at 9:47 a.m., an explosion tore open the roof of a No. 30 
 double-decker bus with such force that it threw debris high into the air. 
 The blast, at the junction of Upper Woburn Place and Tavistock Square, was 
 so powerful that it took hours to determine that at least two people had 
 died. 
  
 The entire subway network was closed as rescue workers went deep below 
 ground to look for the dead and wounded. Police officers in yellow slickers 
 sealed off streets, and bus services were halted. 
  
 Immediately after the attacks, the United States raised its terror alert 
 level from elevated to high for mass transit systems, and European nations 
 also increased mass transit security precautions. 
  
 The attacks were the worst in British memory since World War II. 
  
 Some of the wounded were ferried to hospitals swathed in silvery space 
 blankets, their faces blackened with soot. The police said seriously wounded 
 people had lost limbs and were badly burned. 
  
 Three million people ride London's subway system each day. The blast 
 initially spread chaos with police cars, ambulances and fire engines 
 speeding across the city. 
  
 Since the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, the police here have been 
 rehearsing emergency procedures and seemed to be following pre-arranged 
 measures, urging people to stay where they were, tune into television, radio 
 or websites and avoid central London. 
  
 When transportation was cut off, tourists gathered at the gates of Hyde 
 Park, lining up to ask police officers how to reach the airport or other 
 destinations.  Ten-minute subway rides became 45-minute walks. A woman eight 
 months pregnant was told her trip home would take two hours. 
  
 Loyita Worley, who works for a city law firm, told the BBC that she was in 
 the subway when an explosion took place in the next carriage, while it was 
 in a tunnel. 
  
 Ms. Worley, 49, said: "All the lights went out and the train came to an 
 immediate halt. There was smoke everywhere, and everyone was coughing and 
 choking, but remained calm. We couldn't open the doors." 
  
 Benjamin Velazquez, 34, a banker from Brooklyn, said he was visiting London 
 to work and had been aboard the train attacked near Liverpool Street 
 station. "There was a loud bang, and it felt like something was falling on 
 top of the train," he said.  "Then dust was flying around, black dust. And 
 then smoke." 
  
 He said it had taken about 45 minutes to be rescued, and he broke down in 
 tears once above ground, calling his mother to assure her he was in good 
 shape, just as people did on Sept. 11, 2001. 
  
 He said he realized from the beginning that there had been an attack because 
 a subway car ahead of his had been blown outward to reveal the seats within. 
 "The whole side of the train was open," he said. 
  
 Some Londoners took the bombings in their stride, citing their long 
 experience of Irish Republican Army attacks - but with the key distinction 
 that the I.R.A. often issued warnings of when it would strike, and has 
 observed a form of truce for more than eight years. 
  
 "We've seen all this before in a way," said Sgt. John Burnett, a police 
 officer patrolling under the tall chestnut trees near where the bus was 
 attacked. "We've been fighting the I.R.A. for years in London. So bombs are 
 nothing new. 
  
 "But the difference is that I.R.A. provided some warning for their attacks. 
 It seems the hallmark of these attacks is we get no warning, whatsoever. It 
 was a matter of when, not if." 
  
 There were several theories about the strategy and methodology of the 
 bombings, including the possibility that the devices in the subway were set 
 off by timers. 
  
 British officials have been forecasting a major terror strike on London 
 since the Sept. 11 attacks, particularly since Britain sided with the United 
 States in the war in Iraq. Mr. Blair, speaking before he left Scotland for 
 London, said, "Just as it is reasonably clear that this is a terrorist 
 attack or a series of terrorist attacks, it is clear that it is designed and 
 aimed to coincide with the opening of the G8." 
  
 He said it was "particularly barbaric" that the attacks coincided with a 
 gathering intended to combat African poverty and global warming. 
  
 "The terrorists will not succeed," he said. "Today's bombings will not 
 weaken in any way our resolve to uphold the most deeply held principles of 
 our societies and to defeat those who would impose their fanaticism and 
 extremism on all of us. We shall prevail and they shall not." 
  
 In a recorded message later from his office at 10 Downing Street, a somber 
 Mr. Blair declared, 
  
 "The purpose of terrorism is just that - to terrorize people - and we will 
 not be terrorized." 
  
 In his broadcast, Mr. Blair sought to prevent any backlash against British 
 or foreign Muslims, noting that while terrorists said they acted in the name 
 of Islam, most Muslims in Britain and around the world were "decent 
 law-abiding people who deplore these acts of terrorism as much as we do." 
  
 The Anglican bishop of Stepney in East London, Stephen Oliver, said, "It's 
 very important that we reassure the wider community because a great deal of 
 damage can be done to social cohesion through fear." 
  
 The blast spread worries across Europe, particularly in those lands that are 
 seen as allies of the United States - Spain until last year, Italy and 
 others. 
  
  
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 --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05 
  * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)