p2pnet - rss feed: London terror blasts kill 50
p2pnet.net News:- The death toll for yesterday’s London terrorist bomb blasts now stands at 50 with another 22 people in a serious or critical condition, says the Wikipedia post.
Blogs and news site are still providing much of the coverage of the worst terrorist attack in England since the infamous bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988 which killed 270 people.
“The bombings came while the UK hosted the first full day of the 31st G8 summit at Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire, and a day after London was chosen to host the 2012 Summer Olympics,” says the Wiki story, which is being updated in real time by online contributors.
In total, 700 people were hurt and the London Underground network was shut down. Roads near the affected stations were closed as well and mainline train services into many London stations terminated outside the city for most of the day with city buses taken off in the central zone
The timing of the “seemingly co-ordinated attacks on the capital’s transport system appears to have exploited a weak link in the chain of intelligence and a fatal lapse in security,” says the Financial Times, going on:
“Less than an hour before the first explosion, early morning listeners to the BBC’s Today programme heard Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, claiming some credit for London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics.
“For all London’s status as one of the key capitals and financial centres in the world – and the attractiveness of it as a prime target for any headline-grabbing terrorist act – the city’s bid was helped by Sir Ian convincing the International Olympic Committee that London remained safe and secure enough to attract visitors from around the world.”
The FT adds:
“Not only had security in London been relatively relaxed in recent days compared with the run-up to the general election in May, but the focus of security and policing generally had been evidently elsewhere – at the G-8 summit in Scotland.
“Of the 12,000-strong special force of officers created to police the summit, up to half were sent from England, with London contributing large numbers. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, senior police chiefs announced that many of the 1,500 Metropolitan Police officers were being sent back to London.
“The decision will fuel the suspicion that the inhabitants of London may have fallen victim to a fatal complacency about the inability of well organised and fanatical terrorists to strike successfully.”
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See:-
Wikipedia post - 7 July 2005 London bombings, July 8, 2005
Financial Times - Complacency may have countered years of vigilance, July 7, 2005
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