Enlarge imagePlease read in sixth paragraph ... 21 were confirmed dead in the subway near King’s Cross ... instead of ... 21 were confirmed dead near Liverpool Street subway station
A corrected repetition follows:
By Mike Collett-White and Trevor Datson
LONDON (Reuters) - Four blasts rocked London during rush hour early on Thursday, killing at least 33 people and disrupting a summit of Group of Eight leaders in Scotland in attacks Prime Minister Tony Blair branded "barbaric".
"We are treating this as a terrorist incident," said Brian Paddick, deputy assistant commissioner of London police.
Witnesses saw the top ripped off a double-decker bus near Russell Square close to King’s Cross station in the heart of the capital. Three more explosions caused carnage on packed tube trains as Londoners made their way to work.
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"The scene afterwards was horrible: pieces of body on the ground," said Ayobami Bello, a 42-year-old security guard who was close to the bus when the explosion occurred.
"I saw three bodies on the ground and three just hanging out of the bus. I just missed it myself. If there are any survivors they will have very serious injuries."
Paddick said seven people were killed on an underground train near Liverpool Street, 21 were confirmed dead in the tube near King’s Cross and five died at Edgware Road.
An unknown number of people were also killed in the bus.
Security experts said the blasts had all the hallmarks of the al Qaeda network responsible for the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and the Madrid train bombings in 2004.
A previously unknown group, "Secret Group of al Qaeda’s Jihad in Europe", claimed responsibility, but Paddick said it was too early to say whether suicide bombers were involved.
"We are clearly shocked but we are not surprised by what has happened," Paddick told reporters, adding that police had received no warning prior to the attacks.
U.S. President George W. Bush, speaking at the G8 summit, told reporters that "the war on terror goes on."
"We will not yield to these terrorists, we will find them, we will bring them to justice," he said.
Britain is a key ally of the United States in its war in Iraq, where al Qaeda is waging a bloody insurgency.
Financial markets tumbled as the scale of the attacks became clear and Blair returned to London from the G8 meeting to oversee the emergency. He planned to return to the Gleneagles talks later in the day.
The attacks left Londoners in shock. The Islamic Human Rights Commission warned London Muslims to stay at home to avoid any violence aimed at them.
The bombings came just a day after a jubilant London was awarded the 2012 Olympic Games.
"I’m deeply saddened that this should happen at the heart of an Olympic city. Unfortunately there is no safe haven. No one can say their city is safe," said International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge in Singapore.
Italy’s interior minister said all of Europe was on alert.
DEAD AND WOUNDED
The carnage began at around 9 a.m. with the first blast and ended an hour and three more explosions later.
People were seen streaming out of underground stations covered with blood and soot. Hundreds of passengers were evacuated from stations across the capital, many in shock and with their clothes ripped to shreds, witnesses said.
London’s police chief Ian Blair said there were indications of explosives at the sites. Other officials added that there was no sign of chemical or biological weapons being used.
Mayor Ken Livingstone, speaking in Singapore, suggested suicide bombers may have been involved.
"I wish to speak to you directly -- to those who came to London today to take lives," he said. "I know that you personally do not fear to give your own life in exchange for taking others, which is why you are so dangerous."
Emergency services were pushed to the limit, with medics treating the wounded on train platforms and in a makeshift field hospital set up in a retail store. People with non-urgent complaints were urged to stay away from hospitals.
Security experts said the blasts bore all the hallmarks of al Qaeda, and appeared to target the G8 summit.
"We would put al Qaeda at the top of the list of any suspects," said Alex Standish, editor of Jane’s Intelligence Digest. "They have the motives, the means and the opportunity.
"Here you have a massive headline event which involves the three world leaders that al Qaeda detests -- Bush, Blair and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin."
The city’s streets rapidly emptied and financial markets plummeted as it became increasingly apparent that the blasts were an attack, and not a power surge on the underground train system as had first been reported.
On the currency market, the safe-haven Swiss franc hit a six-week high against sterling and rose more than 1 percent against the dollar following the explosions.
"The market is showing a textbook reaction, buying safe-haven currencies like the Swiss franc and euro and away from the dollar," said Marios Maratheftis, currency strategist at Standard Chartered.
Oil prices initially fell more than five percent before recovering and the FTSE stock exchange lost two percent.
