UK police review suicide bomber theory as timing of blasts proves near-simultaneous
July 11, 2005 Edition 1
Beth Gardiner
London: The near-simultaneity of three explosions on London Tube trains bolsters the theory that the attacks were set off by timers rather than suicide bombers, the police said, radically shifting their original assessment that the blasts occurred over a 26-minute span.
The bombs were made of "high explosives," not home-made material, the police said on Saturday, but would not specify whether the explosives were of military grade, a detail that could provide clues about the plotters' level of sophistication, resources and international connections.
Authorities said a fresh analysis of data from eyewitnesses and the Underground's computer and electrical systems showed the three blasts occurred within 50 seconds of one another, starting at 8.50am.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick said at a Metropolitan Police briefing that authorities had not ruled out the possibility of suicide bombers but now believed it was more likely the attackers had used timers.
Michael Oren of the Shalem Centre panel in Jerusalem agreed. "In Israel, we've had co-ordinated suicide bombings but they've never been that close," he said. "If they've got down to a minute that would be an all-time record."
Paddick said no timing devices or other detonators had yet been discovered in the wreckage. When they are found, they are "probably going to be in millions of pieces", he said.
He said early analysis suggested that each bomb consisted of a "device in a bag, rather than something that was strapped to the individual". Forty-nine people have been confirmed dead from the bombings on three subways and a double-decker bus that was blown apart near Russell Square in central London.
The police say the four bombs weighed about 4.5kg each.
Deep underground on the Piccadilly line, recovery teams were continuing to pull bodies and evidence out of a mangled train.
Work inside the hot, dusty and narrow tunnel is slow and difficult, said Deputy Chief Constable Andy Trotter of the British Transport Police. Trotter said police still didn't know how many bodies were trapped in the wrecked carriage between King's Cross and Russell Square stations.
Investigators working at the site of the bus explosion, which killed 13 people, have taken away the vehicle's roof, which was blown off in the explosions, Paddick said. They will eventually take the bus itself to another location to scrutinise it more closely, he added.
In the meantime, they are conducting a "fingertip examination" of the entire area to find even tiny fragments of material that might provide clues, he said. Prime Minister Tony Blair said investigators still do not know who was behind the attacks, but said a group like al-Qaeda was probably responsible.
Two groups invoking al-Qaeda's name have claimed responsibility. The police have said they are taking seriously a claim, posted on the internet shortly after the bombings, by a group calling itself The Secret Organisation of al-Qaeda in Europe.
A second claim appeared on a website on Saturday, signed by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades.
