2005 London Bombings
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The 7 July 2005 London bombings, also referred to as 7/7, were a series of four co-ordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamist terrorists that targeted commuters travelling on London's public transport during the morning rush hour. Three terrorists separately detonated three homemade bombs in quick succession aboard
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...
trains in
Inner London Inner London is the group of London boroughs that form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. With its origins in the bills of mortality, it became fixed as an area for statistics in 1847 and was used as an area ...
. Later, a fourth terrorist detonated another bomb on a double-decker bus in
Tavistock Square Tavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden near Euston Station. History Tavistock Square was built shortly after 1806 by the property developer James Burton and the master builder Thomas Cubitt for Fr ...
. The train bombings occurred on the Circle Line near and at
Edgware Road Edgware Road is a major road in London, England. The route originated as part of Roman Watling Street and, unusually in London, it runs for in an almost perfectly straight line. Forming part of the modern A5 road, Edgware Road undergoes sever ...
, and on the
Piccadilly Line The Piccadilly line is a Deep level underground, deep-level London Underground line running between the west and the north of London. It has two western branches which split at Acton Town tube station, Acton Town and serves 53 stations. The li ...
near . Apart from the bombers, 52 people of 18 different nationalities were killed and nearly 800 were injured in the attacks. It was the UK's deadliest terrorist incident since the 1988 bombing of
Pan Am Flight 103 Pan Am Flight 103 (PA103/PAA103) was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. Shortly after 19:00 on 21 December 1988, the Boeing 747 "Clipper Maid of th ...
near
Lockerbie Lockerbie (, ) is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, located in south-western Scotland. The 2001 Census recorded its population as 4,009. The town had an estimated population of in . The town came to international attention in December 1988 when ...
, and the UK's first Islamist suicide attack. The explosions were caused by
improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...
s made from concentrated
hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscosity, viscous than Properties of water, water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usua ...
and pepper, packed into backpacks.


Attacks


London Underground

At 8:49a.m. on Thursday 7 July 2005, three bombs were detonated on London Underground (LU) trains within 50seconds of each other: # The first bomb exploded on a six-car London Underground Circle Line train, number 204, travelling eastbound between Liverpool Street and
Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. The gate gave its name to ''Aldgate High Street'', the first stretch of the A11 road, that takes that name as it passes through the ancient, extramural Portsoken ...
. At the time of the explosion, the train's third car was approximately 100yards (90m) along the tunnel from Liverpool Street. The parallel track of the
Hammersmith & City Line The Hammersmith & City line is a London Underground line that runs between Hammersmith in west London and in east London. Coloured pink on the Tube map, it serves 29 stations over . Between and it skirts the City of London, the capital's finan ...
between Liverpool Street and Aldgate East was also damaged in the blast. # The second bomb exploded in the second car of another six-car London Underground Circle Line train, number 216, which had just left
Edgware Road Edgware Road is a major road in London, England. The route originated as part of Roman Watling Street and, unusually in London, it runs for in an almost perfectly straight line. Forming part of the modern A5 road, Edgware Road undergoes sever ...
and was travelling westbound towards
Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...
. An eastbound Circle Line train that was passing next to the bombed train was also damaged, as was a wall that later collapsed. # A third bomb was detonated on a six-car London Underground
Piccadilly Line The Piccadilly line is a Deep level underground, deep-level London Underground line running between the west and the north of London. It has two western branches which split at Acton Town tube station, Acton Town and serves 53 stations. The li ...
train, number 311, travelling southbound from
King's Cross St Pancras tube station King's Cross St Pancras (; also known as King's Cross & St Pancras International) is a London Underground station on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden, Central London, Central London. It serves and main line stations in List of stat ...
to
Russell Square Russell Square is a large garden square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, built predominantly by the firm of James Burton (property developer), James Burton. It is near the University of London's main buildings and the British Mus ...
. The device exploded approximately one minute after the service departed King's Cross, by which time it had travelled about 500yards (450m). The explosion occurred at the rear of the first car of the train, causing severe damage to the rear of that car as well as the front of the second one. The surrounding tunnel also sustained damage. It was originally thought that there had been six, rather than three, explosions on the Underground network. The bus bombing brought the reported total to seven; this was clarified later in the day. The incorrect reports were later attributed to the fact that the blasts occurred on trains that were between stations, causing wounded passengers to emerge from both stations, giving the impression that there was an incident at each. Police also revised the timings of the tube blasts: initial reports had indicated that they occurred during a period of almost half an hour. This was due to initial confusion at London Underground, where the explosions were originally believed to have been caused by power surges. An early report, made in the minutes after the explosions, involved a person under a train, while another described a derailment (both of which did occur, but only as a result of the explosions). A code amber alert was declared by LU at 9:19a.m., and LU began to close operations by ordering trains to continue to the next station and, to remain at that station and detrain passengers. The effects of the explosions varied due to the differing characteristics of the tunnels in which each occurred: * The Circle Line is a "
cut and cover A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...
" sub-surface tunnel, about deep. As the tunnel contains two parallel tracks, it is relatively wide. The two explosions on the Circle line were probably able to vent their force into the tunnel, reducing their destructive force. * The Piccadilly Line is a deep-level tunnel, up to 30m (100ft) below the surface and with narrow (3.56m, or 11ftin) single-track tubes and just 15cm (6in) clearances. This confined space reflected the blast force, concentrating its effect.


Tavistock Square bus

Almost one hour after the attacks on the London Underground, a fourth bomb exploded on the top deck of a number 30
double-decker bus A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-deckers are used primarily for commuter transport, but open-top models are used as sightseeing buses for tourists, and there are coaches too for long-distance travel. They app ...
, travelling its route from
Marble Arch The Marble Arch is a 19th-century white marble-faced triumphal arch in London, England. The structure was designed by John Nash in 1827 as the state entrance to the cour d'honneur of Buckingham Palace; it stood near the site of what is today th ...
to
Hackney Wick Hackney Wick is a neighbourhood in East London, England. The area forms the south-eastern part of the district of Hackney, and also of the wider London Borough of Hackney. Adjacent areas of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, namely Fish I ...
. The bus left Marble Arch at 9:00a.m. and arrived at
Euston bus station Euston Bus Station serves the Euston Road, Euston area of London Borough of Camden, Camden, London, England. The station is owned and maintained by Transport for London. It is situated next to Euston railway station, Euston main line railway ...
at 9:35a.m., where crowds of people had been evacuated from the tube and boarded buses as an alternative method of transport. The explosion at 9:47a.m. in Tavistock Square ripped off the roof and destroyed the rear portion of the bus. The blast took place near BMA House, the headquarters of the
British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...
, on Upper Woburn Place. A number of doctors and medical staff in or near that building were able to provide immediate emergency assistance. Witnesses reported seeing "papers and half a bus flying through the air". Two injured bus passengers said that they saw a man exploding in the bus. The location of the bomb inside the bus meant the front of the vehicle remained mostly intact. Most of the passengers at the front of the top deck survived, as did those near the front of the lower deck, including the driver, but those at the rear of the bus suffered more serious injuries, with several individuals being blown from the bus. The extent of the damage caused to the victims' bodies resulted in a lengthy delay in announcing the death toll from the bombing while the police determined how many bodies were present and whether the bomber was one of them. Several passers-by were also injured by the explosion and surrounding buildings were damaged by debris. The bombed bus was subsequently covered with tarpaulin and removed for forensic examination at a secure
Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...
site. A replacement bus was named '' Spirit of London''.


Victims

The 52 victims were of diverse backgrounds. All were UK residents, including exchange students. The majority lived in or near London. Their ages ranged from 20 to 60 years old, with an average age of 34. Thirty-two victims were British, while one victim each came from Afghanistan, France, Ghana, Grenada, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Mauritius, New Zealand, Nigeria, Romania, Sri Lanka and Turkey. Three victims were Polish nationals, while one victim was a Vietnamese born Australian and one held dual American-Vietnamese citizenship. Seven of the victims were killed at Aldgate, six at Edgware Road, 26 at King's Cross and 13 at Tavistock Square.


Attackers

The four suicide bombers were later identified as: * Mohammad Sidique Khan, aged 30. He lived in Beeston, Leeds, with his wife and young child, where he worked as a learning mentor at a primary school. Khan detonated his bomb on the number 216 train, killing seven people, including himself. * Shehzad Tanweer, aged 22. Also lived in Beeston, Leeds, occasionally working in his mother and father's
fish and chip shop A fish and chip shop, sometimes referred to as a chip shop or chippy, is a restaurant that specialises in selling fish and chips. Usually, fish and chip shops provide takeaway service, although some have seating facilities. Fish and chip shop ...
on Lodge Lane, Beeston. He detonated his bomb on the number 204 train. Eight people, including Tanweer, were killed by the explosion. The explosion also injured future Paralympic athlete Martine Wright who was commuting to work. * Germaine Lindsay, aged 19. He lived in
Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...
, Buckinghamshire, with his pregnant wife and young son. He detonated his device on the number 311 train. The blast killed 27 people, including him. * Hasib Hussain, aged 18. He lived in Leeds with his brother and sister-in-law. Hussain detonated his bomb on a bus. Fourteen people, including him, died in the explosion in Tavistock Square. Three of the bombers were British-born sons of Pakistani immigrants; Lindsay was a convert born in
Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
.
Charles Clarke Charles Rodway Clarke (born 21 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician who held various Cabinet positions under Prime Minister Tony Blair from 2001 to 2006, lastly as Home Secretary from December 2004 to May 2006. Clarke was th ...
,
Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...
when the attacks occurred, described the bombers as " cleanskins", a term describing them as previously unknown to authorities until they carried out their attacks. On the day of the attacks, all four had travelled to
Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...
, Bedfordshire, by car, then to London by train. They were filmed on CCTV arriving at King's Cross station at about 8:30a.m.


Motives


Videotaped statements

Two of the bombers made videotapes describing their reasons for becoming what they called "soldiers". In a videotape broadcast by
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...
on 1 September 2005, Mohammad Sidique Khan described his motivation. The tape had been edited and mentioned
al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...
members
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
,
Ayman al-Zawahiri Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri (; 19 June 195131 July 2022) was an Egyptian-born pan-Islamism, pan-Islamist militant and physician who served as the second general emir of al-Qaeda from June 2011 until Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri, his dea ...
and
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (; , "Father of Musab, of Zarqa"; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel Nazal al-Khalayleh (), was a Jordanian militant jihadist who ran a training camp in Afghanistan. He became known after going to Iraq a ...
, describing them as "today's heroes". Khan's tape said: The tape continued: On 6 July 2006, a videotaped statement by Shehzad Tanweer was broadcast by Al-Jazeera. In the video, which may have been edited to include remarks by al-Zawahiri, Tanweer said: Tanweer argued that the non-Muslims of Britain deserve such attacks because they voted for a government which "continues to oppress our mothers, children, brothers and sisters in
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
, Afghanistan, Iraq and
Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...
."


Effects and response


Initial reports

Initial reports suggested that a power surge on the Underground power grid had caused explosions in power circuits. This was later ruled out by power suppliers National Grid. Commentators suggested that the explanation had been made because of bomb damage to power lines along the tracks; the rapid series of power failures caused by the explosions (or power being ended by means of switches at the locations to permit evacuation) looked similar, from the point of view of a control room operator, to a cascading series of circuit breaker operations that would result from a major power surge. A couple of hours after the bombings, Home Secretary
Charles Clarke Charles Rodway Clarke (born 21 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician who held various Cabinet positions under Prime Minister Tony Blair from 2001 to 2006, lastly as Home Secretary from December 2004 to May 2006. Clarke was th ...
confirmed the incidents were terrorist attacks.


Security alerts

Although there were security alerts at many locations throughout the United Kingdom, no terrorist incidents occurred outside central London. Suspicious packages were destroyed in controlled explosions in
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
,
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
,
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
,
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
,
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
,
Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...
and
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
. Security across the country was increased to the highest alert level. ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' reported on 17 July 2005 that police sniper units were following as many as a dozen al-Qaeda suspects in Britain. The covert armed teams were ordered to shoot to kill if surveillance suggested that a terror suspect was carrying a bomb and he refused to surrender if challenged. A member of the Metropolitan Police's
Specialist Firearms Command The Specialist Firearms Command (MO19) is the firearms unit of the Metropolitan Police Service. Formed in 2005 but with antecedents dating back to 1966, the Command is responsible for providing a firearms-response capability, assisting the res ...
said: "These units are trained to deal with any eventuality. Since the London bombs, they have been deployed to look at certain people." The bombings were followed two weeks later by a series of attempted attacks that failed to cause injury or damage. A day later, police shot and killed a 27-year old Brazilian man
Jean Charles de Menezes Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...
at
Stockwell tube station Stockwell is a London Underground station in Stockwell in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is served by the Northern line, Northern and Victoria line, Victoria lines, and is located in Travelcard Zone 2. On the Northern line, the station is be ...
after he was mis-identified as Hussain Osman, one of the failed suicide bombers.


Transport and telecoms disruption

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...
reported that its mobile telephone network reached capacity at about 10a.m. on the day of the bombings, and it was forced to initiate access overload control to prioritise emergency calls. Other mobile phone networks also reported failures. The
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
speculated that the telephone system was shut down by security services to prevent the possibility of mobile phones being used to trigger bombs. Although this option was considered, it became clear later that the intermittent unavailability of both mobile and landline telephone systems was due only to excessive usage. ACCOLC was activated only in a radius around Aldgate Tube Station because key emergency personnel did not have ACCOLC-enabled mobile phones. The communications failures during the emergency sparked discussions to improve London's emergency communications system. For most of the day, central London's public transport system was largely out of service following the complete closure of the Underground, the closure of the Zone 1
bus network A bus network is a network topology in which Node (networking), nodes are directly connected to a common half-duplex link called a bus (computing), bus. A Host (network), host on a bus network is called a ''station''. In a bus network, every ...
, and the evacuation of incident sites such as Russell Square. Bus services restarted at 4:00p.m. on 7 July, and most mainline railway stations resumed service soon afterward.
River A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
vessels were pressed into service to provide a free alternative to overcrowded trains and buses. Local lifeboats were required to act as safety boats, including the Sheerness lifeboat from the
Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the districts of England, local government district of Borough ...
in Kent. Thousands of people chose to walk home or to the nearest Zone 2 bus or railway station. Most of the Underground, apart from the stations affected by the bombs, resumed service the next morning, though some commuters chose to stay at home. Affected stretches were also closed for police investigations. Much of the King's Cross railway station was also closed, with the ticket hall and waiting area being used as a makeshift hospital to treat casualties. Although the station reopened later during the day, only suburban rail services were able to use it, with Great North Eastern Railway trains terminating at
Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...
(the service was fully restored on 9 July). King's Cross St Pancras tube station remained available only to
Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in London Borough of Hillingdon, Hillingdon. Printed in mage ...
services to facilitate the ongoing recovery and investigation for a week, though
Victoria line The Victoria line is a London Underground line that runs between in South London, and in the east, via the West End of London, West End. It is printed in light blue on the Tube map and is one of the only two lines on the network to run comp ...
services were restored on 15 July and the
Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...
on 18 July. All of the damaged trains were removed in stages.
St Pancras station St Pancras railway station (), officially known since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a major central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It is the terminus for Eurostar services from Belgium, F ...
, located next to King's Cross, was shut on the afternoon of the attacks, with all Midland Mainline trains terminating at
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
, causing disruption to services to
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
,
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
and
Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...
. On 25 July, the Hammersmith & City line was reopened from Baker Street to Barking after the affected train was cleared at Aldgate, together with the stretch from Moorgate to Aldgate of the Metropolitan Line. The Hammersmith to Paddington part of the Hammersmith & City line was a shuttle service after the bombings. On 29 July, the District line was reopened from High Street Kensington to Edgware Road, after the affected train was cleared. On 2 August, the Hammersmith & City line resumed normal service; the Circle line was still suspended, though all Circle line stations are also served by other lines. The Piccadilly line service resumed on 4 August after the affected train was cleared on 16 July, and enhanced maintenance work was done. On 4 August, the Circle line was reopened again.


List of emergency responses

The list below is of the emergency services, police forces and voluntary aid societies that responded to the bombings to assist with rescue, recovery, security and scene control: ;Emergency medical services and voluntary aid societies *
London Ambulance Service The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS) is an NHS trust responsible for operating ambulances and answering and responding to urgent and medical emergency, emergency medical situations within the Greater London, London region of England. The ...
(LAS) – response included Motorcycle Response Units (MRUs) and Cycle Response Units (CRU), off-duty personnel also responded. *
London Air Ambulance London's Air Ambulance Charity is a Charity Commission for England and Wales, registered charity that operates a Air medical services, helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) dedicated to responding to serious trauma emergencies in and arou ...
– sent crews in rapid response vehicles (RRVs), including paramedics and doctors. * St John Ambulance England (SJA) sent ambulances and medics *
British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society () is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with 1 ...
(BRC) sent ambulances and medics to the scene at the request of LAS. They also helped in the aftermath. ;Fire and rescue services *
London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the Fire department, fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 90), under the leadership of superintendent ...
(LFB) ;Police forces * Metropolitan Police *
British Transport Police British Transport Police (BTP; ) is a national special police force that polices the railway network of England, Wales and Scotland, which consists of over 10,000 miles of track and 3,000 stations and depots. BTP also polices the London Under ...
– responded to the tube station attacks, as well as Tavistock Square and conducted mortuary, security, rescue and body recovery duties *
City of London Police The City of London Police is the territorial police force#United Kingdom, territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the City of London, England, including the Middle Temple, Middle and Inner Temple, Inner Temples. The for ...


Economic effect

There were limited reactions to the attack in the
world economy The world economy or global economy is the economy of all humans in the world, referring to the global economic system, which includes all economic activities conducted both within and between nations, including production (economics), producti ...
as measured by
financial market A financial market is a market in which people trade financial securities and derivatives at low transaction costs. Some of the securities include stocks and bonds, raw materials and precious metals, which are known in the financial marke ...
and
exchange rate In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...
activity. The value of the
British pound Sterling (Currency symbol, symbol: Pound sign, £; ISO 4217, currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of account, unit of sterling, and the word ''Pound (cu ...
decreased 0.89cents to a 19-month low against the US dollar. The
FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most highly capitalised blue chips listed on ...
fell by about 200 points during the two hours after the first attack. This was its greatest decrease since the
invasion of Iraq An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives ...
, and it triggered the
London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
's 'Special Measures', restricting
panic selling Panic selling is a large-scale selling of an investment that causes a sharp decline in prices. Specifically, an investor wants to sell an investment with little regard to the price obtained. The sale is problematic because the investor is reacting ...
and aimed at ensuring market stability. By the time the market closed, it had recovered to only 71.3 points (1.36%) down on the previous day's three-year closing high. Markets in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain also closed about 1% down on the day. US market indexes increased slightly, partly because the dollar index increased sharply against the pound and the euro. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity indice ...
gained 31.61 to 10,302.29. The NASDAQ Composite Index increased 7.01 to 2,075.66. The
S&P 500 The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 leading companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices and in ...
increased 2.93 points to 1,197.87 after decreasing as much as 1%. Every benchmark value gained 0.3%. The market values increased again on 8 July as it became clear that the damage caused by the bombings was not as great as thought initially. By end of trading the market had recovered fully to above its level at start of trading on 7 July. Insurers in the UK tend to reinsure their terrorist liabilities in excess of the first £75,000,000 with
Pool Re Pool Reinsurance Company Limited, also known as Pool Re, was set up in 1993 by the insurance industry in cooperation with the UK Government in the wake of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, IRA Baltic Exchange bomb, bombing of the Baltic Excha ...
, a mutual insurer established by the government with major insurers. Pool Re has substantial reserves and newspaper reports indicated that claims would easily be funded. On 9 July, the
Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...
,
HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...
and the
Financial Services Authority The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body accountable for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013. It was founded as the Securities and Investments Board (SIB) in 1985 ...
revealed that they had instigated contingency plans immediately after the attacks to ensure that the UK financial markets could keep trading. This involved the activation of a "secret chatroom" on the British government's Financial Sector Continuity website, which allowed the institutions to communicate with the country's banks and market dealers.


Media response

Continuous news coverage of the attacks was broadcast throughout 7 July, by both
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
and ITV, uninterrupted until 7:00p.m., although the BBC stuck with initial reports of a power surge on the London Underground until actual events could be corroborated.
Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...
did not broadcast any advertisements for 24 hours.
ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...
confirmed later that its coverage on ITV was its longest uninterrupted on-air news broadcast of its 50-year history. Television coverage was notable for the use of mobile telephone footage sent in by members of the public and live pictures from traffic
CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...
cameras. The
BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...
website recorded an all-time
bandwidth Bandwidth commonly refers to: * Bandwidth (signal processing) or ''analog bandwidth'', ''frequency bandwidth'', or ''radio bandwidth'', a measure of the width of a frequency range * Bandwidth (computing), the rate of data transfer, bit rate or thr ...
peak of 11 Gb/s at midday on 7 July.
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
received some 1billion total accesses throughout the course of the day (including all images, text and HTML), serving some 5.5
terabyte The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable un ...
s of data. At peak times during the day there were 40,000-page requests per second for the BBC News website. The previous day's announcement of the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
being awarded to London resulted in up to 5Gb/s. The previous all-time maximum for the website followed the announcement of the Michael Jackson verdict, which used 7.2Gb/s. On 12 July, it was reported that the
British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a Far-right politics, far-right, British fascism, fascist list of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and is led by Adam ...
released leaflets showing images of the 'No. 30 bus' after it was destroyed. The slogan, "Maybe now it's time to start listening to the BNP" was printed beside the photo. Home Secretary Charles Clarke described it as an attempt by the BNP to "cynically exploit the current tragic events in London to further their spread of hatred". Some media outside the UK complained that successive British governments had been unduly tolerant towards radical Islamist militants, so long as they were involved in activities outside the UK. Britain's alleged reluctance to extradite or prosecute terrorist suspects resulted in London being dubbed " Londonistan" by French intelligence in the mid 1990s, the term was popularised by in the UK by columnist
Melanie Phillips Melanie Phillips (born 4 June 1951) is a British public commentator. She began her career writing for ''The Guardian'' and ''New Statesman''. During the 1990s, she came to identify with ideas more associated with right-wing politics and the far ...
.


Claims of responsibility

Even before the identity of the bombers became known, former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Stevens said he believed they were almost certainly born or based in Britain, and would not "fit the caricature al-Qaeda fanatic from some backward village in Algeria or Afghanistan". The attacks would have required extensive preparation and prior reconnaissance efforts, and a familiarity with bomb-making and the London transport network as well as access to significant amounts of bomb-making equipment and chemicals. On 13 August, quoting police and
MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...
sources, ''The Independent'' reported that the bombers acted independently of an al-Qaeda terror mastermind some place abroad. On 1 September, it was reported that al-Qaeda officially claimed responsibility for the attacks in a videotape broadcast by the Arab television network Al Jazeera. However, an official inquiry by the British government reported that the tape claiming responsibility had been edited after the attacks, and that the bombers did not have direct assistance from al-Qaeda. Zabi uk-Taifi, an al-Qaeda commander arrested in Pakistan in January 2009, may have had connections to the bombings, according to Pakistani intelligence sources. More recently, documents found by German authorities on a terrorist suspect arrested in Berlin in May 2011 have suggested that
Rashid Rauf Rashid Rauf (; 1981 – 22 November 2008) was an alleged Al-Qaeda operative. He was a dual citizen of Britain and Pakistan who was arrested in Bhawalpur, Pakistan in connection with the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot in August 2006, a day ...
, a British al Qaeda operative, played a key role in planning the attacks.


Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades

A second claim of responsibility was posted on the Internet by another al-Qaeda allied group, Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades. The group had, however, previously falsely claimed responsibility for events that were the result of technical problems, such as the 2003 London blackout and the US Northeast blackout of 2003.


Response of Muslim faith groups

Within hours of the bombings, various Islamic religious groups had condemned the attacks and distanced themselves from the perpetrators. Sir
Iqbal Sacranie Sir Iqbal Abdul Karim Mussa Sacranie, OBE (born 6 September 1951 in Malawi to a Memon people, Memon family). He served as Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) until June 2006. He arrived in the UK in 1969. He was the founding ...
of the
Muslim Council of Britain The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) is an umbrella body of Muslim organisations in the United Kingdom, with over 500 affiliated mosques and organisations. It was formed in 1994 in response to British government's expressed wish for a single r ...
stated that the perpetrators were not true Muslims as their acts were "contrary" to Islamic beliefs. On 18 July, over 500 British Muslim religious leaders issued a ''
fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...
'' (decree), condemning the bombings and stating that the bombings were against the teachings of Islam. Senior Muslim leaders offered support in counter-terrorism efforts, having met the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and the Met Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair. Muslim organisations in Europe also condemned the bombings. The imam of the
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
mosque called the bombers "insane" while the Union of Islamic Communities and Organisations in Italy said that "terrorism is incompatible with the doctrine, law and culture of Islam" and expressed its incontrovertible "condemnation of actions that lead to the massacre of innocent people" and its "repugnance" at the "blasphemous use of the Qu'ran".


Effects on Muslim community and hate crimes

In the immediate aftermath of the bombings, there was a sharp temporary rise in faith hate crimes, directed mostly at British Muslims. There were also acts of
arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...
against mosques as well as Sikh temples. Muslims reported that they felt more anxious about going out in public or to work, in fear of anti-Muslim reprisals by individuals. A British Medical Journal psychological study found that 61 percent of Muslim commuters in London suffered "substantial stress" in the days after the attacks. According to a book by Chris Allen published in 2005, the British media had before the bombings portrayed Muslims in a highly derogatory way and failed to distinguish between mainstream Muslims and extremist groups. There had also been a growing trend in young British Muslims feeling "alienated" with the British state, fuelled especially by the UK's foreign policy regarding the
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
. A YouGov poll showed that 88% of British Muslims did not justify the bombings, while 6% did. There was also some criticism against the government. In 2006, government statements such as the Prime Minister's claim that moderate Muslims were not doing enough to tackle extremists, was met with disapproval by Hammasa Kohistani, who called it a "huge stereotype of the Islamic community" that is fuelling hostility.


Conspiracy theories

A survey of 500 British Muslims undertaken by
Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...
in 2007 found that 24% believed the four bombers blamed for the attacks did not perform them. There have been various
conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...
proposed about the bombings, including the suggestion that the bombers were ' patsies', based on claims about timings of the trains and the train from Luton, supposed explosions underneath the carriages, and allegations of the faking of the one time-stamped and dated photograph of the bombers at Luton station. Claims made by one theorist in the Internet video '' 7/7 Ripple Effect'' were examined by the BBC documentary series '' The Conspiracy Files'', in an episode titled "7/7" first broadcast on 30 June 2009, which debunked many of the video's claims. On the day of the bombings, Peter Power of Visor Consultants gave interviews on BBC Radio 5 Live and ITV saying that he was working on a crisis management simulation drill, in the
City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
, "based on simultaneous bombs going off precisely at the railway stations where it happened this morning", when he heard that an attack was going on in real life. He described this as a coincidence. He also gave an interview to the ''
Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...
'' where he spoke of "an exercise involving mock broadcasts when it happened for real". After a few days he dismissed it as a "spooky coincidence" on Canadian TV. Iranian state newspaper editorials claimed that the bombings were a
setup Setup (the noun) or set up (the verb) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Set Up'' (2005 film), a 2005 Hong Kong horror film * ''Setup'' (2011 film), a 2011 action thriller heist film Literature * ''Set Up'', a 1992 nov ...
by British or American authorities seeking to further justify the War on Terror and increase harassment of Muslims in Europe.
Alexander Litvinenko Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko (30 August 1962 ( at WebCite) – 23 November 2006) was a British-naturalised Russian defector and former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) who specialised in tackling organized crime, ...
, a former officer of Russia's
Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation СБ, ФСБ России (FSB) is the principal security agency of Russia and the main successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB; its immediate predecessor was the Federal Counterin ...
, was asked who he thought the culprits of the attacks were, in an interview. Litvinenko stated,The originator of the acts of terrorism in London was standing near Tony Blair
Retrieved on 3 April 2008
"You know, I have spoken about it earlier and I shall say now, that I know only one organization, which has made terrorism the main tool of solving of political problems. It is the Russian special services."


Cultural influence

Both the events and aftermath of the July 7th bombings heavily influenced
Bloc Party Bloc Party are an English Rock music, rock band that was formed in London, England, London in 1999 by co-founders Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, sampler) and Russell Lissack (lead guitar). Their first four albums all featur ...
's 2007 single " Hunting for Witches", which features the lyrics: "The newscaster says the enemy is among us / As bombs explode on the 30 bus". Upon the song's release, the band faced criticism as a result of its release being two days after the bombing's second anniversary.
Stereophonics Stereophonics are a Welsh pop and rock music, Welsh rock band formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in the Cynon Valley. The band consists of Kelly Jones (lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Richard Jones (Stereophonics), Richard Jones (n ...
' 2007 single " It Means Nothing" was written about the July 7th bombings.


Investigation


Initial findings

Initially, there were conflicting reports as to the origin, method, and even timing of the explosions. Forensic examiners initially thought that military-grade plastic explosives had been used, and, as the blasts were thought to have been simultaneous, that synchronised timed detonators had been employed. These hypotheses changed as more information became available. The explosive was initially identified as triacetone triperoxide, According to a May 2006 report from the British government's
Intelligence and Security Committee The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) is a statutory joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, appointed to oversee the work of the UK intelligence community. The committee was established in 1994 by the ...
, home-made organic peroxide-based devices were used, which was described at the coroner's inquest as an "entirely unique" mixture of concentrated hydrogen peroxide and pepper. Fifty-six people, including the four suicide bombers, were killed by the attacks and about 700 were injured, of whom about 100 were hospitalised for at least one night. The incident was the deadliest single act of terrorism in the United Kingdom since the 1988 bombing of
Pan Am Flight 103 Pan Am Flight 103 (PA103/PAA103) was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. Shortly after 19:00 on 21 December 1988, the Boeing 747 "Clipper Maid of th ...
, which exploded over Lockerbie killing 270 people, and the deadliest bombing in London since the Second World War. Police examined about 2,500 items of CCTV footage and
forensic evidence Forensic identification is the application of forensic science, or "forensics", and technology to identify specific objects from the trace evidence they leave, often at a crime scene or the scene of an accident. Forensic means "for the courts". Hu ...
from the scenes of the attacks. The bombs were probably placed on the floors of the trains and bus. Investigators identified four men whom they alleged had been the suicide bombers. This made the bombings the first ever suicide attack in the British Isles. Vincent Cannistraro, former head of the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
's anti-terrorism centre, told ''The Guardian'' that "two unexploded bombs" were recovered as well as "mechanical timing devices"; this claim was explicitly rejected by London's Metropolitan Police Service.


Police raids

West Yorkshire Police West Yorkshire Police, formerly the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is the fourth largest territorial police force in England ...
raided six properties in the Leeds area on 12 July: two houses in Beeston, two in Thornhill, one in
Holbeck Holbeck is an inner city area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It begins on the southern edge of Leeds city centre and mainly lies in the LS11 postcode district. The M1 and M621 motorways used to end/begin in Holbeck. Now the M621 is t ...
and one in Alexandra Grove in Hyde Park. One man was arrested. Officers also raided a residential property on Northern Road in the Buckinghamshire town of
Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...
on 13 July. The police service say a significant amount of explosive material was found in the Leeds raids and a
controlled explosion A controlled explosion is the deliberate detonation of an explosive, generally as a means of demolishing a building or destroying a second improvised or manufactured explosive device. Demolition During demolition, controlled explosions can be ...
was carried out at one of the properties. Explosives were also found in the vehicle associated with one of the bombers, Shehzad Tanweer, at Luton railway station and subjected to controlled explosion.


Luton cell

There was speculation about a possible association between the bombers and another alleged Islamist cell in
Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...
which was ended during August 2004. The Luton group was uncovered after Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan was arrested in
Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
, Pakistan. His laptop computer was said to contain plans for tube attacks in London, as well as attacks on financial buildings in New York City and Washington, D.C. The group was subject to surveillance but on 2 August 2004 ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' published Khan's name, citing Pakistani sources. The news leak forced police in Britain and Canada to make arrests before their investigations were complete. When the Luton cell was ended, one of the London bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan (no known relation), was scrutinised briefly by MI5 who determined that he was not a likely threat and he was not surveilled.


March 2007 arrests

On 22 March 2007, three people were arrested in connection with these bombings. Two were arrested at 1p.m. at
Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2024, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passengers (the busiest outside of London) ...
, attempting to board a flight bound for Pakistan that afternoon. They were apprehended by undercover officers who had been following the men as part of a surveillance operation. They had not intended to arrest the men that day, but believed they could not risk letting the suspects leave the country. A third man was arrested in the Beeston area of Leeds at an address on the street where one of the suicide bombers had lived before the attacks.


May 2007 arrests

On 9 May 2007, police made four further arrests, three in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
and one in
Selly Oak Selly Oak is an industrial and residential area in south-west Birmingham, England. The area gives its name to Selly Oak ward and includes the neighbourhoods of: Bournbrook, Selly Park, and Ten Acres. The adjoining wards of Edgbaston and Harbor ...
, Birmingham. The widow of the presumed ringleader Mohammed Sidique Khan, was among those arrested for "commissioning, preparing or instigating acts of terrorism". Three of those arrested, including Khan's widow, were released on 15 May. The fourth, Khalid Khaliq, an unemployed single father of three, was charged on 17 July 2007 with possessing an al-Qaeda training manual, but the charge was not related to the 2005 London attacks. Conviction for possession of a document containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism carried a maximum ten-year jail sentence.


Deportation of Abdullah el-Faisal

Abdullah el-Faisal Abdullah el-Faisal (born Trevor William Forrest, also known as Abdullah al-Faisal, Sheikh Faisal, Sheik Faisal, and Imam Al-Jamaikee, born 10 September 1963) is a Jamaican Muslim cleric who preached in the United Kingdom until he was convicted ...
was deported to Jamaica, his country of origin, from Britain on 25 May 2006 after reaching the parole date in his prison sentence. He was found guilty of three charges of soliciting the murder of Jews, Americans and Hindus and two charges of using threatening words to incite racial hatred in 2003 and, despite an appeal, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. In 2006 John Reid alleged to MPs that el-Faisal had influenced Jamaican-born Briton Germaine Lindsay into participating in the 7/7 bombings.


Investigation of Mohammad Sidique Khan

''The Guardian'' reported on 3 May 2007 that police had investigated Mohammad Sidique Khan twice during 2005. The newspaper said it "learned that on 27 January 2005, police took a statement from the manager of a garage in Leeds which had loaned Khan a courtesy car while his vehicle was being repaired." It also said that "on the afternoon of 3 February an officer from
Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...
's anti-terrorism branch carried out inquiries with the company which had insured a car in which Khan was seen driving almost a year earlier". Nothing about these inquiries appeared in the report by Parliament's intelligence and security committee after it investigated the 7 July attacks. Scotland Yard described the 2005 inquiries as "routine", while security sources said they were related to the fertiliser bomb plot.


Reports of warnings

While no warnings before 7 July bombings have been documented officially or acknowledged, the following are sometimes quoted as indications either of the events to come or of some foreknowledge. * One of the London bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan, was briefly scrutinised by MI5 who determined that he was not a likely threat and he was not put under surveillance.MI5 judged bomber "no threat"
''The Times''
* Some news stories, current a few hours after the attacks, questioned the British government's contention that there had not been any warning or prior intelligence. It was reported by
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
that a senior Israeli official said that British police told the Israeli embassy in London minutes before the explosions that they had received warnings of possible terror attacks in the UK capital. An AP report used by a number of news sites, including ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', attributed the initial report of a warning to an Israeli "Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity", but added Foreign Minister
Silvan Shalom Zion Silvan Shalom (; born 4 August 1958) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1992 and 2015. He held several prominent ministerial positions, including Deputy leaders of Israel#Vice Prime Minister, Vi ...
's later denial on
Israel Defense Forces Radio Israeli Army Radio ( lit. IDF waves) or Galei Tzahal, known in Israel by its acronym Galatz (), is a nationwide State media, state funded Israeli radio network operated by the Israel Defense Forces. The station broadcasts news, music, traffic repor ...
: "There was no early information about terrorist attacks." A similar report on the site of right-wing Israeli paper ''Israel National News/Arutz Sheva'' attributed the story to "Army Radio quoting unconfirmed reliable sources."Report: Israel was warned ahead of first blast
Arutz Sheva –
Although the report has been retracted, the original stories are still circulated as a result of their presence on the news websites' archives. * In an interview with the Portuguese newspaper '' Público'' a month after the
2004 Madrid train bombings The 2004 Madrid train bombings (also known in Spain as 11M) were a series of coordinated, nearly simultaneous bombings against the Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of 11 March 2004—three days before Spain's ...
, Syrian-born cleric
Omar Bakri Muhammad Omar Bakri Muhammad (; born Omar Bakri Fostock; 1958) is a Syrian Islamist militant leader born in Aleppo. He was instrumental in developing Hizb ut-Tahrir in the United Kingdom before leaving the group and heading to another Islamist organisati ...
warned that "a very well-organised" London-based group which he called "al-Qaeda Europe" was "on the verge of launching a big operation." In December 2004, Bakri vowed that, if Western governments did not change their policies, Muslims would give them "a 9/11, day after day after day." * According to a 17 November 2004 post on the ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' website, US authorities in 2004 had evidence that terrorists were planning a possible attack in London. In addition, the article stated that, "fears of terror attacks have prompted FBI agents based in the U.S. embassy in London to avoid travelling on London's popular underground railway (or tube) system." * In an interview published by the German magazine ''
Bild am Sonntag ''Bild am Sonntag'' (''BamS'') is the largest-selling German national Sunday newspaper published in Berlin, Germany. History and profile ''Bild am Sonntag'' was first published on 29 April 1956.Helmut Böger, ''Bild'', 8 May 2011Die Story von Ba ...
'' dated 10 July 2005,
Meir Dagan Aluf Meir Dagan (; 30 January 1945 – 17 March 2016) was an Israel Defense Forces Major General (reserve) and Director of the Mossad. Personal life and education Meir Huberman (later Dagan) was born on a train on the outskirts of Kherson, b ...
, director of the Israeli intelligence agency
Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...
, said that the agency's office in London was alerted to the impending attack at 8:43a.m., six minutes before the first bomb detonated. The warning of a possible attack was a result of an investigation into an earlier terrorist bombing in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
, which may have been related to the London bombings.


Anwar al-Awlaki

''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' reported that radical imam
Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar Nasser Abdulla al-Awlaki (; April 21 or 22, 1971September 30, 2011) was an American-Yemeni lecturer assassinated Drone strikes in Yemen, in Yemen in 2011 by a U.S. government drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki was th ...
had inspired the bombers. The bombers transcribed lectures of al-Awlaki while plotting the bombings. His materials were found in the possession of accused accomplices of the suicide bombers. Al-Awlaki was killed by a US drone attack in 2011.


Independent inquest

In 2006, the government refused to hold a public inquiry, stating that "it would be a ludicrous diversion". Prime Minister
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
said an independent inquiry would "undermine support" for MI5, while the leader of the opposition,
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
, said only a full inquiry would "get to the truth". In reaction to revelations about the extent of security service investigations into the bombers prior to the attack, the
Shadow Home Secretary In British politics, the shadow home secretary (formally known as the shadow secretary of state for the home department) is the person within the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (UK), shadow cabinet who shadows the home secretary; this effecti ...
, David Davis, said: "It is becoming more and more clear that the story presented to the public and
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
is at odds with the facts." After Cameron became Prime Minister in 2010, an independent coroner's inquest of the bombings began. Lady Justice Hallett was appointed to hear the inquest, which would consider how each victim died and whether MI5, if it had worked better, could have prevented the attack, and also the emergency service response. After seven months of evidence and deliberation, the verdict of the inquiry was released and read in the Houses of Parliament on 9 May 2011. It determined that the 52 victims had been unlawfully killed; their deaths could not have been prevented, and they would probably have died "whatever time the emergency services reached and rescued them". Hallett concluded that MI5 had not made every possible improvement since the attacks but that it was not "right or fair" to say more attention should have been paid to ringleader Mohammad Sidique Khan prior to 7 July. She also decided that there should be no public inquiry. The report provided nine recommendations to various bodies: # With reference to a photograph of Khan and Shehzad Tanweer which was so badly cropped by MI5 that the pair was virtually unrecognisable to the US authorities asked to review it, the inquiry recommended that procedures be improved so that humans asked to view photographs are shown them in best possible quality. # In relation to the suggestion that MI5 failed to realise the suspects were important quickly enough, the inquiry recommended that MI5 improves the way it records decisions relating to suspect assessment. # The inquiry recommended that 'major incident' training for all frontline staff, especially those working on the Underground, is reviewed. # With regards to the facts that London Underground (LU) is unable to declare a 'major incident' itself and that LU was not invited to an emergency meeting at Scotland Yard at 10:30a.m. on the morning of the bombings, the inquiry recommends that the way
Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...
(TfL) and the London resilience team are alerted to major incidents and the way the emergency services are informed is reviewed. # Regarding the confusion on 7 July 2005 over the emergency rendezvous point, it was recommended that a common initial rendezvous point is permanently staffed and advised to emergency services; # In response to the evidence that some firefighters refused to walk on the tracks at Aldgate to reach the bombed train because they had not received confirmation that the electric current had been switched off, the inquiry recommended a review into how emergency workers confirm whether the current is off after a major incident. # A recommendation was made that TfL reviewed the provision of stretchers and
first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with a medical emergency, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery until medical services arrive. First aid is gener ...
equipment at Underground stations. # Training of London Ambulance Service (LAS) staff of "multi-casualty triage" should be reviewed, following concerns in the inquest that some casualties were not actually treated by paramedics who had triaged them. # A final recommendation was made to the
Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...
, the
Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...
and the London resilience team to review the capability and funding of emergency medical care in the city.


Alleged newspaper phone hacking

It was reported in July 2011 that relatives of some of the victims of the bombings may have had their telephones accessed by the ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'' in the aftermath of the attacks. The revelations added to an existing controversy over phone hacking by the tabloid newspaper. The fathers of two victims, one in the Edgware Road blast and another at Russell Square, told the BBC that police officers investigating the alleged hacking had warned them that their contact details were found on a target list, while a former firefighter who helped injured passengers escape from Edgware Road also said he had been contacted by police who were looking into the hacking allegations. A number of survivors from the bombed trains also revealed that police had warned them their phones may have been accessed and their messages intercepted, and in some cases officers advised them to change security codes and
PINs A pin is a device, typically pointed, used for fastening objects or fabrics together. Pins can have the following sorts of body: *a shaft of a rigid inflexible material meant to be inserted in a slot, groove, or hole (as with pivots, hinges, an ...
.


Memorials

Since the bombings, the United Kingdom and other nations have honoured the victims in several ways. Most of these memorials have included moments of silence, candlelit vigils, and the laying of flowers at the attack sites. Foreign leaders have also remembered the dead by ordering their flags to be flown at
half-mast Half-mast or half-staff (American English) refers to a flag flying below the summit of a ship mast, a pole on land, or a pole on a building. In many countries this is seen as a symbol of respect, mourning, distress, or, in some cases, a sal ...
, signing books of condolences at embassies of the UK, and issuing messages of support and condolences to the British people.


United Kingdom

The government ordered the
Union Flag The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...
to be flown at half-mast on 8 July. The following day, the
Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...
led prayers for the victims during a service paying tribute to the role of women during the Second World War. A vigil, called by the
Stop the War Coalition The Stop the War Coalition (StWC), informally known simply as Stop the War, is a British group that campaigns against the United Kingdom's involvement in military conflicts. It was established on 21 September 2001 to campaign against the impe ...
,
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucl ...
and Muslim Association of Britain, was held from 5p.m., at Friends Meeting House on Euston Road. A two-minute silence was held on 14 July 2005 throughout Europe. Thousands attended a vigil at 6p.m. on
Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...
. After an initial silence there was a series of speakers for two hours. A memorial service was held at
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...
on 1 November 2005. To mark the first anniversary of the attack, a two-minute silence was observed at midday across the country. A permanent memorial was unveiled in 2009 by
Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...
in Hyde Park to mark the fourth anniversary of the bombings. On the eve of the ninth anniversary of the attacks in 2014 the memorial was defaced with messages including "Blair lied, thousands died". The graffiti was removed within hours. During the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games in London a minute's silence was held to commemorate those killed in the attacks. A memorial service was held in St. Paul's Cathedral on 7 July 2015, to mark the tenth anniversary of the bombings. This was broadcast on BBC One.


International

US President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
visited the British embassy the day after the bombings, upon his return from the G8 summit in Scotland, and signed a book of condolence. In Washington, D.C., the US Army band played "
God Save the Queen "God Save the King" ("God Save the Queen" when the monarch is female) is '' de facto'' the national anthem of the United Kingdom. It is one of two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem of the Isle of Man, Australia, Canada and ...
" (the British national anthem, the melody of which is also used in an American patriotic hymn, "
My Country, 'Tis of Thee "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", also known as "America", is an American patriotic song whose lyrics were written by Samuel Francis Smith. The song served as one of the ''de facto'' national anthems of the United States (along with songs like " Hai ...
"), a suggestion that US Army veteran John Miska made to Vice Chief of Staff General Cody, outside the British embassy in the city. A similar tribute had been made by the Queen in the days following the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
in 2001 where the
Star Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...
played at Buckingham Palace's Changing the Guard. On 12 July, a
Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall (Detroit, Michigan), Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown, Detroit, ...
brass ensemble played the British national anthem during the pre-game festivities of the
Major League Baseball All-Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...
at
Comerica Park Comerica Park is a baseball stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers since 2000, when the team left Tiger Stadium (Detroit), Tiger Stadium. History Construction Founded in 1894, t ...
in Detroit. Flags were ordered to fly at half-mast across Australia, New Zealand(8 July 2005).
No Known New Zealand Casualties in London
". tvnz.co.nz. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
and Canada.(1 September 2005).
Half Masting of the Flag
". Canadian Heritage. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
The Union Flag was raised to half-mast alongside the
Flag of Australia The national flag of Australia is based on the British Blue Ensign—a blue field with the Union Jack in the upper hoist quarter—augmented with a large white seven-pointed star (the Commonwealth Star) and a representation of the Crux, Southe ...
on
Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North ...
as a show of "sympathy between nations". Moments of silence were observed in the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
, the
Polish parliament The parliament of Poland is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Poland. It is composed of an upper house (the Senate of Poland, Senate) and a lower house (the Sejm). Both houses are accommodated in the Sejm and Senate Complex of Poland, S ...
and by the Irish parliament on 14 July. The British national anthem was played at the changing of the Royal Guard at Plaza de Oriente in Madrid in memorial to the victims of the attacks. The ceremony was attended by the British ambassador to Spain and members of the
Spanish Royal Family The Spanish royal family constitutes the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon (), also known as the House of Bourbon-Anjou (). The royal family is headed by King Felipe VI and currently consists of the King; Queen Letizia; their children, Leono ...
. After the
2004 Madrid train bombings The 2004 Madrid train bombings (also known in Spain as 11M) were a series of coordinated, nearly simultaneous bombings against the Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of 11 March 2004—three days before Spain's ...
, the UK had hosted a similar ceremony at
Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...
.


Planned anniversary attack

Mohammed Rehman and Sana Ahmed Khan were sentenced to life imprisonment on 29 December 2015 for preparing an act of terrorism, planning to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the 7/7 attacks. They had 10kg of urea nitrate. Rehman called himself the 'silent bomber' and asked his Twitter followers to choose between
Westfield London Westfield London is a large shopping centre in White City, west London, England, developed by the Westfield Group at a cost of £1.6bn, on a brownfield site formerly the home of the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition. The site is bounded by the ...
or the
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...
for the planned suicide bomb.


See also

*
21 July 2005 London bombings On 21 July 2005, four attempted bomb attacks by four Islamism, Islamist extremists disrupted part of London's public transport system as a follow-up attack to the 7 July 2005 London bombings two weeks earlier. The explosions occurred around mid ...
*
Killing of Jean Charles de Menezes Jean Charles da Silva e de Menezes (; 7 January 1978 – 22 July 2005) was a Brazilian man who was fatally shot by the Metropolitan Police Service at Stockwell Station of the London Underground. He was mistakenly identified as one of the fug ...
* Gill Hicks—Australian motivational speaker, author and curator, who had both legs amputated below the knee as a result of the bombings * Martine Wright—Paralympic athlete who lost both her legs while travelling to work during one of the bombings *
List of Islamist terrorist attacks The following is an incomplete list of Islamist terrorist attacks. 1980s 1990s 2001–2010 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011–2020 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 ...


References

*


Further reading

; Books * ; Official reports
Greater London Authority report
() (PDF)
House of Commons report
() (PDF)
Intelligence and Security Committee report – May 2006
( (PDF)
Intelligence and Security Committee report – May 2009
(PDF) ; Medical report
The account of the doctor leading the team at the scene of the Tavistock Square bus bomb
(). Retrieved 11 August 2005. ; Radio broadcasts
The Jon Gaunt show
originally broadcast live at 9:00a.m. on 7 July 2005 on
BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London, Surrey and parts of the surrounding areas of the Home Counties. Its output includes the daily '' BBC London'' news bulletin and w ...
. First mention of events at approximately 27 minutes into the broadcast. ; Photos
Images of the victims
()
Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet writes about posters honouring the terrorists
()


External links


Official inquest transcripts
* 2016
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
intervie
with the brother-in-law of Mohammad Sidique Khan
{{DEFAULTSORT:London bombings, 7 July 2005 2005 building bombings 2005 murders in the United Kingdom 21st-century mass murder in England Anwar al-Awlaki Attacks on buildings and structures in 2005 Attacks on railway stations in Europe 7 July 2005 7 July 2005 bombings Islamic terrorist incidents in 2005 Mass murder in 2005 7 July 2005 bombings Murder–suicides in the United Kingdom Suicide bombings in the United Kingdom 7 July 2005 bombings Terrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 2005 Polish people murdered abroad