A BUS was ripped apart in an explosion in central London today and several blasts rocked the Tube network - leaving dozens of people injured.
Two other buses were also thought to be damaged by explosions.
There were reports of explosions in Edgware Road, King's Cross, Liverpool Street, Russell Square, Aldgate East and Moorgate, Scotland Yard said.
The Tube blasts were initially blamed on a power surge but there were reports that had been discounted.
Amid the chaos eyewitnesses reported that a packed double decker bus in the Russell Square area had been severely damaged in a blast. Union officials blamed the Tube blasts on a series of bombs.
Scotland Yard confirmed the bus explosion and said it was dealing with "multiple explosions" in London.
A second bus was damaged in Tavistock Square.
Describing the Russell Square blast, eyewitness Belinda Seabrook said she saw an explosion rip through the bus as it approached the Square. "I was on the bus in front and heard an incredible bang, I turned round and half the double decker bus was in the air," she said. Mrs Seabrook said the bus was travelling from Euston to Russell Square and had been "packed" with people turned away from Tube stops.
"It was a massive explosion and there were papers and half a bus flying through the air, I think it was the number 205," she said. "There must be a lot of people dead as all the buses were packed, they had been turning people away from the tube stops.
"We were about 20 metres away, that was all."
The blasts plunged the capital into chaos as world leaders gathered in Scotland for the G8 summit.
Scores of police and fire engines filled Edgware Road as shocked passengers left the scene of one of the explosions. Simon Corvett, 26, from Oxford, was on the eastbound train leaving Edgware Road Tube station when the explosion happened. He said: "All of sudden there was this massive huge bang. It was absolutely deafening and all the windows shattered.
"The glass did not actually fall out of the windows, it just cracked.
"The train came to a grinding halt, everyone fell off their seats."
Mr Corvett, who works in public relations, said the commuter train was absolutely packed. "There were just loads of people screaming and the carriages filled with smoke," he said.
"You couldn't really breathe and you couldn't see what was happening. The driver came on the Tannoy and said `We have got a problem, don't panic'." Mr Corvett, whose face was covered in soot, joined other passengers to force open the train doors with a fire extinguisher. He said the carriage on the other track was destroyed. "You could see the carriage opposite was completely gutted," he added. "There were some people in real trouble."
* 8.49am - First explosion reported on the line between Liverpool Street and Aldgate Station.
* 9.35am - Second explosion reported at Edgware Road on the Circle Line - one passenger later calls it a "massive explosion".
* 9.48am - British Transport Police confirm incidents at Edgware Road, Kings Cross, Old Street, Aldgate and Russell Square.
* 9.50am - The whole of the London Underground system is shut down.
* 9.53am - Passengers emerging from the underground covered in blood and soot rescue teams also enter the tunnels.
* 9.55am - First Great Western begin stopping services to Paddington Station at Reading.
* 10am - Police report massive confusion and confirm walking wounded.
* 10.10am - First reports of a huge explosion ripping a double-decker bus apart at Russell Square.
* 10.25am - Reports of more explosions at Moorgate Station.
* 10.26am - Scotland Yard confirm explosion on a bus in Tavistock Place.
* 10.27am - Union sources said they have received reports of explosion on three buses in central London.
* 10.41am - All London hospitals begin major incident procedures. Ambulances start arriving at hospitals with casualties. 10.45am - FTSE down by 160 points to 5069.
.41am - All London hospitals begin major incident procedures. Ambulances start arriving at hospitals with casualties. 10.45am - FTSE down by 160 points to 5069. The pound already down by almost a cent against the dollar. 10.47am Leader of the House of Commons Geoff Hoon makes an emergency statement confirming ministers are meeting to assess the situation.
