A second man has been arrested in connection with the terror attack at Parsons Green as it was revealed a teenager apprehended yesterday morning was allegedly arrested two weeks ago at the exact same tube station where the device exploded but released.
The 21-year-old man was arrested in the London borough of Hounslow at around 11.50pm last night and has been taken to a south London police station.
It comes as neighbours claim terror police have recovered ’15 firearms and a bomb’ from a Surrey house raided in connection with the attack.
Police are today searching the property, in Sunbury-on-Thames, after the first suspect, an 18-year-old man, was detained in Dover yesterday morning as he apparently attempted to leave the country.
Neighbours on the quiet street said police had been there since Friday and claimed a teenager living at the raided property had been arrested at Parsons Green station two weeks ago but was later released.
The arrests come after the Prime Minister announced the UK’s terror threat has been raised to critical as officials fear there could be copycat attacks following Friday’s bombing.
This morning Home Secretary Amber Rudd said it appeared the bomber was not a lone wolf but it ‘too early to reach any final conclusions on that’.
The lilac-painted property raided in connection with the attack, which injured 30, is owned by a kind-hearted couple who were both appointed MBEs for fostering hundreds of children.
Penelope Jones, 71, and her husband Ronald, 88, have raised 268 foster children in the house over three decades and the last eight have been refugees.
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Police are still searching a property in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, raided yesterday in connection with the attack
Around 60 residents in the surrounding area were evacuated from their homes as armed police carried out the raid
The lilac-painted property raided in connection with the attack, which injured 30, is owned by a kind-hearted couple who were both appointed MBEs for fostering hundreds of children
Sunbury-on-Thames is just a 37-minute train journey from Wimbledon station, where the tube that was bombed yesterday began its journey. A second man was arrested four miles away in Hounslow last night
The couple who own the Sunbury home, Ronald and Penelope Jones, receive MBEs from the Queen in 2009 for fostering hundreds of children
Penelope Jones became a foster mother after working in a juvenile prison and was always supported by her husband. She said: ‘I just like being able to help people’
Close friends of pensioners Penny and Ron Jones said the couple – who are widely respected in the local area – were at ‘their end’ with the teenager
Officers stormed the house on Cavendish Road at 2pm around six hours after apprehending the suspect in the departure lounge of the Port of Dover. Residents had to be evacuated as a precaution
Officers stormed the home on Cavendish Road at 2pm yesterday, around six hours after apprehending the suspect in the departure lounge of the Port of Dover.
Around 60 residents on the street were told to leave their homes, while unconfirmed reports suggested ‘explosives’ were found in the garden and ‘firearms’ seen under the floorboards.
One Neighbour, who identified herself as Carrie, said: ‘I was speaking to a police officer and asking him what was going on and how long we would be out of our house.
‘He said he could not say but pointed to one of his colleagues and said he might know. I asked him and he told me they had found 15 firearms at the house and a bomb in the garden. It doesn’t feel real any of this.’
Close friends of pensioners Penny and Ron Jones said the couple – who are widely respected in the local area – were at ‘their end’ with the teenager.
Serena Barber, 47, who has known the couple all her life and lives in a property backing on to theirs, said: ‘They have two boys at the moment, both are foreign. One is very quiet and polite, the other who is 18 is awful.
‘I know about two weeks ago he was arrested by police at Parsons Green, for what I don’t know and returned back to Penny and Ron. After that Penny said she was going to have to stop caring for him, she couldn’t handle him.’
The development comes as police revealed they are ‘keeping an open mind’ on whether there was more than one person responsible for the bombing.
Foster couple that took in hundreds of needy children
The kind-hearted couple whose house in Sunbury was raided yesterday have MBEs for fostering at least 268 people over three decades.
Of those children Penny and Ron Jones have taken in, at least eight were refugees coming from countries including Iraq, Eritrea, Syria, Albania and Afghanistan.
One of them was a 15-year-old boy who had smuggled himself into the country from Calais in the back of a lorry after escaping his oppressive family who had imprisoned him for his beliefs.
Mrs Jones, who has six children of her own with her husband, said in an interview with community group Elmbridge CAN: ‘We just try and support where we can – because they’ve had bad lives.
Penny and Ron Jones have taken in at least eight refugees coming from countries including Iraq, Eritrea, Syria, Albania and Afghanistan
‘Sometimes, watching the news, they can get so worked up that they have to leave the house and go for a walk – it’s awful to see and it’s so difficult for them.’
Mrs Jones was inspired to foster children after working in a juvenile prison for five years.
‘[I read] one of the kids profiles and thought, “had his mum and dad had time for him, he wouldn’t be in here”. Every time I gave him some attention he grabbed it. I knew that if he’d had this before, he would never have gone off [the rails].’
In an interview with the BBC after the couple were honoured by the Queen in 2009 Mrs Jones said the children they take in need to be ‘loved and feel special’.
She added: ‘We open our hearts to all the children. Anybody that comes to us we will do whatever we can do to help them with whatever they need.’
The couple try to stay in touch with all the children they have taken in. Mrs Jones said: ‘I send them birthday cards – it’s a very extended family.’
Serena Barber, 47, who has known the foster parents all her life, said: ‘They have two boys at the moment, both are foreign. One is very quiet and polite, the other who is 18 is awful’. Pictured: The scene in Sudbury tonight
At least eight of the Jones’ foster children have been refugees, with some coming from Iraq, Eritrea, Syria, Albania and Afghanistan. The couple were honoured by the Queen in 2009 for their services to children and families
An aerial view of Cavendish Road in Sudbury-on-Thames where the house that has been raided is located
A photograph of the flaming white bucket taken just after it exploded around 8.20am on Friday shows a number of wires protruding out of the top and on to the train carriage floor
Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said: ‘At approximately 7.50am local police officers in Kent arrested an 18-year-old man in the departures area of the port in Dover.
‘He was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism and transferred to custody in a police station in London.
‘Officers from Kent police had to partially evacuate the port of Dover at 11am this morning. That work is now complete and they have recovered a number of items during that search.’
‘At around 1.40pm with the assistance of Surrey Police, we evacuated a house on Sunbury-on-Thames. As a precautionary measure we evacuated the surrounding buildings.
‘I want to reassure that community that our experts are quickly and thoroughly searching that address.
‘At this stage we are keeping an open mind about whether more than one person is responsible for this attack and we are still pursuing multiple lines of enquiry at pace.’
Deputy Commissioner Basu revealed police have received 180 photos and videos and located 121 witnesses – 100 of whom they have spoken to already.
Sunbury-on-Thames is just a 37-minute train ride from Wimbledon station, where the tube that was bombed yesterday began its journey.
Residents on Cavendish Road were evacuated and asked to find somewhere to stay for the evening. Staines Rugby Club has been set up as a meeting point.
Police even applied to the Civil Aviation Authority for a no-fly zone to stop drones and TV news helicopters flying overhead.
Residents in the outer cordon were allowed home at 8pm after they had given their names and proof of address to police.
They were told once they were in their houses they must stay there unless absolutely necessary, and sign in and out of the cordon until it was lifted if they had to leave.
Residents closer living closer to the house were asked to find alternative accommodation for the night.
Brenda Matthews, 53, was told by police to pack essential items and find somewhere to stay for 12 hours while specialist officers raided the property.
She said: ‘I looked out this morning and saw men with bandannas. I asked what was going on and a neighbour told me it was a terrorist raid.
‘Everyone knows everyone round here. The house involved is blocked off, police are knocking on doors to try and basically get everyone out and to safety.
‘The scary thing is how long have these people been living in this house for? I’ve lived here seven years.’
Mrs Jones is the governor of a local school and became a foster mother after working in a juvenile prison and was always supported by her husband.
The couple featured in an interview with Elmbridge CAN, a community group which aims ‘to build a culture of welcome to refugees’ and help settle them in the local community.
The organisation states that Mr and Mrs Jones have been foster parents for almost 40 years and had taken in 268 children – the last eight of which were refugees. It is not clear when the interview was published.
In the interview Mrs Jones said fostering ‘had its ups and downs’, adding: ‘They’re all children, it doesn’t matter if they’re sky blue or with pink dots on them – they just need to be loved.’
Alison Griffiths, a Surrey county councillor who knows Mr and Mrs Jones, said they had two young people staying with them – an 18-year-old and a 22-year-old.
She described Mr and Mrs Jones as ‘great pillars of the community’, adding: ‘They do a job that not many people do.’
Ms Griffiths, 42, said the couple may not be able to return home for days as police continue to search their house.
She said: ‘I think they are actually staying with friends of theirs.
‘But I spoke to the police officer earlier and he said he doesn’t think they will be going home until at least five days because of forensics.’
Mojgan Jamali, who lives on the road where the house was raided this afternoon, said police gave her just ‘one minute’ to pack her bags, grab her children, and leave her home.
She said: ‘We didn’t know what was going on. There was a lot of rumours going on, a lot of stories, people saying this and that, but we didn’t know.’
Another neighbour, who did not wish to be named, told MailOnline police vehicles swooped on the street as she was making her way to a local Tesco store. We thought it was a drug raid, but the police would not tell us anything.
Police were seen searching bins outside Dover Priory railway station on prompting suggestions the suspect may have arrived in the town by train
An 18-year-old man was arrested in Dover in relation to the Parsons Green bombing at around 3pm. This image shows police at the port
A police van pictured in the Dover port area outside a building that houses the terminal’s control offices and a car rental firm where officers say they have arrested an 18-year-old man in connection with the attack on Parsons Green
Armed police raided the residential property on Cavendish Road in Sunbury-on-Thames in connection to the Parsons Green bombing
There is a heavy police presence around the area, where residents have been ordered to leave their homes as the investigation continues
One neighbour, a 32-year-old woman, told MailOnline she was ordered to leave her mother’s house after getting a knock on the door from a police SWAT team
‘We tried driving around but they had blocked of part of the road and they said that we really need to go right down [to the other end of the road].
‘When I was leaving they were knocking on all the doors. A police sergeant told us that they had found an explosive device.’
A 32-year-old woman who lives locally told MailOnline she was ordered to leave her mother’s house after getting a knock on the door from a police SWAT team.
‘My brother got a bang on the door about half past one by a swat team and they were told to leave immediately.
‘We are waiting outside on Catherine Drive there now. Everyone is cold and just waiting to see when we can go back home. The couple in the house are lovely, they’ve be fostering kids for years since I was little.’
A woman, who lives opposite, added: ‘I am so worried about Ron and Penny, they are a lovely couple. I hear they have been taken away for questioning. I don’t understand.’
At 8.20am on Friday, a bomb left by a suspected terrorist detonated on the tube at Parsons Green in west London, injuring 30 people. Two hours afterwards, the Metropolitan Police said they were investigating a terrorist incident.
On Friday evening, the Islamic State claimed the attack, saying it had been carried out by their ‘soldiers’, although the group has made false claims in the past.
Theresa May raised the UK’s threat level to critical on Friday night and soldiers were deployed to guard key sites, such as nuclear power stations, to free up armed police for regular patrols.
These are the updates since then –
- Parsons Green underground station reopened on Saturday morning following the attack at 8.20am on Friday;
- 18-year-old ‘suspected bomber’ was arrested in Dover at 7.50am and at 2pm police stormed house in Sudbury;
- Unconfirmed reports from locals said police found explosives in the garden of the terraced house;
- Suspect was arrested two weeks ago, neighbours claimed, although Scotland Yard declined to comment;
- The Metropolitan Police said officers ‘open minded’ about whether more than one person was responsible;
- Police have received 180 photos and videos, located 121 witnesses and have spoken to 100 of them already;
- Public have been told to dial 999 or call the anti-terror hotline on 0800 789 321 if see anything suspicious.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd described arrest of the 18-year-old at 7.50am in the Dover port departure lounge as ‘very significant’, but added: ‘The operation is ongoing.’
The suspect was taken to a local police station and will be transferred to south London during the course of the day, officers said.
One witness said the man was arrested in the ticket office at the port.
She told The Sunday Mirror: ‘He was surrounded by about seven police officers as he went to buy a ticket. It was all done very quickly and quietly.
‘I couldn’t really see who he was or what he was wearing as they were all around him. ‘I didn’t realise what it was at the time. It’s only after and heard it on the news I realised what it was.’
Tourist Daniel Vaselicu, 31, said the man appeared calm as the officers two unarmed interrogated him for 10 minutes before arresting him minutes later.
Police were seen searching bins outside Dover Priory railway station on prompting suggestions the suspect may have arrived in the town by train.
The station also has CCTV cameras positioned in and outside the building. The station is a 30 minute walk to the port. Police officers also searched industrial bins at the Dover ferry passenger terminal.
Officers were pictured lifting plastic carrier bags out of the bin and examining them before putting them back.
Police lay in wait at the port for his arrival, sources told the Mail On Sunday, suggesting his movements were being monitored by security services.
It is understood he was identified following an exhaustive examination by hundreds of detectives of CCTV footage.
This prompted a tense surveillance operation involving MI5 and several police forces which ended dramatically with the Dover sting. Special Forces were also involved, according to the Sunday Times.
Security minister Ben Wallace said today the threat level has been raised to critical because a new attack is likely to be ‘imminent’ as an increased presence of armed officers was seen in cities across the country.
But he piled the pressure on police for not releasing CCTV footage of the attacker, describing it as a ‘useful’ tool in identifying suspects.
He said on BBC Radio 4’s Today show this morning: ‘I totally agree that CCTV footage is useful but that part of the investigation I leave with the police and security services.’
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick vowed: ‘London has not stopped after other terrible attacks and it will not stop after this one.’
Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said today: ‘London has not stopped after other terrible attacks and it will not stop after this one’
The crime commissioner chats with armed police officers who have been deployed around the city in the wake of the failed bombing at Parsons Green tube station yesterday
The crime commissioner joined police patrols today after Operation Temperer was activated, meaning that up to 5,000 armed troops can be deployed at sensitive sites
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick talks to a member of the public on the South Bank in central London, as Operation Temperer is enacted
Armed officers on patrol at a busy Westminster station this morning – Scotland Yard said the arrest will lead to more activity from officers
Armed police officers patrol Northumberland Street in Newcastle today following the UK’s threat level being raised to critical following yesterday’s attack in London
Operation Temperer will see soldiers replacing police at key sites including nuclear power plants to free up extra armed officers for regular patrols
Armed police were also seen on patrol in other parts of the country such as in Brighton (pictured)
Armed officers chat with passengers coming in and out of Manchester Piccadilly station on Saturday
In Liverpool Armed officer were present at the city’s Food & Drink Festival at Sefton Park
An armed police officer provides security as members of the Queen’s Life Guard ride across Horse Guards Parade
Scotland Yard said last night it is making ‘excellent’ progress in hunting the suspected terrorist who set off a crude bucket bomb on a packed commuter train. The timeline of the attack is shown in this graphic
It was the middle of rush hour on Friday when the crude bucket bomb – which had a timer – went off at 8.20am inside a tube train packed with commuters, including schoolchildren and a pregnant woman.
The train is regularly packed full of schoolchildren. The Fulham area serves at least three state secondary schools: Fulham Boys School, The London Oratory and Lady Margaret Hall along with a number of independent schools.
Terrified passengers were left covered in blood with scorched hands, legs, faces and hair – others suffered crush injuries during a stampede as they ‘ran for their lives’ over fears the ‘train would blow up’.
London Ambulance took 19 patients to hospitals, while the others went in themselves. The four hospitals dealing with patients were Imperial, Chelsea and Westminster, Guy’s and St Thomas’ and St George’s. All but one patient have now been released.
An officer at the scene on Friday told MailOnline: ‘We believe there is a second bomb – there is a man with knives on the loose.’
In a pre-recorded television statement released around 8.30pm, Mrs May said military personnel would replace police officers ‘on guard duties at certain protected sites which are not accessible to the public’.
She said: ‘The public will see more armed police on the transport network and on our streets, providing extra protection.
‘This is a proportionate and sensible step which will provide extra reassurance and protection while the investigation progresses.’
Speaking moments afterwards, Assistant Commissioner Mike Rowley said: ‘We are making excellent progress at the moment as we pursue our lines of inquiry to identify, locate and arrest those responsible.
‘We have hundreds of police officers trawling through CCTV footage, detectives have spoken to tens of witnesses and we have taken a large number of calls to the hotline… from members of the public.
Donald Trump tweeted just hours after the blast that police had the attacker ‘in their sights’ and should have been ‘more proactive’ in catching ‘the loser’.
Scotland Yard hit back and said Mr Trump’s comments were ‘pure speculation’ while senior officers refused to name the suspect.
The President later adopted a more conciliatory tone in another tweet last night saying, ‘our hearts and prayers go out to the people of London’.
Mrs May also hit out at the President’s tweet, calling it ‘unhelpful’, and has this evening discussed the intelligence sharing between the two countries with the President in a telephone call.
The majority of victims of Friday’s attack suffered ‘flash burns’ including to their heads (pictured) and several were taken to a specialist burns unit
Armed police pictured on guard in Westminster on Saturday after the UK’s terror threat level was raised to severe – the highest level
The introduction of Operation Temperer will see soldiers replacing police at key sites including nuclear power plants to free up extra armed officers for regular patrols
Theresa May gave a statement from within Downing Street on Friday in which she announced the terror threat level would be raised to critical, its highest level
Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley suggested there may have been more than one person involved stating that police were ‘chasing down suspects’
A young woman was walked to safety by a Met officer after having her head bandaged after suffering a burn or wound to her cheek
Elite armed counter-terrorism police were at the scene on Friday amid reports of the suspect being on the run and claims of a second device
Security was stepped up at stations around London following Friday morning’s attack. Pictured is a British Transport Police officers at Euston
A police officer watches on as commuters file into the underground at Euston Station amid newly tightened security
Business as usual: Undeterred passengers were at the station again this morning to catch services into central London
Passengers were pictured going through the turnstiles less than 24 hours after the bomb exploded at the station on Friday
This image was taken from the platform in the minutes after the terror attack and it remained alight until the fire service arrived
The abandoned train at Parsons Green on Friday morning after a terrorist left a bucket bomb on the carriage floor
Police believe the bomber may have exited the train (pictured) perhaps one or two stops before the bomb went off
Passengers are ushered across the track by firefighters after getting trapped in the aftermath of the bombing on Friday morning
Witnesses to the explosion said there was a loud ‘bang’, a flash and then a ball of flame engulfed surrounding passengers on the ‘packed’ District Line train.
Gillian Wixley, 36, who lives in Putney, was eight seats from the explosion. She said: ‘It was chaotic: There was lots of people panicking and people were injured due to the crush.
‘Everyone was very emotional. There was one boy maybe age ten who was commuting to school on his own. He was sitting on the floor sobbing.
‘He was obviously in shock and very scared. Everyone around him was trying to calm him down and help him.’
Lady Margaret Hall schoolgirl Emanuella Mensah, 16, described the panic. I was right outside the corner shop when people started running from the station. People were shouting ‘run, run’. I saw old people, people with their kids. Then someone shouted ‘terrorist!’. More people kept coming out of the station.
‘There were people sitting on the pavement crying and in hysterics. Schoolgirls were coming from all kinds of directions. The teachers came down and we started escorting people into school.’
She said the younger children were particularly shocked and scared and that the distress carried on throughout the day.
‘Years seven, eight and nine, they were all on the phone trying to call their parents. People were crying everywhere.
‘The teachers were putting them into rooms, giving them water and biscuits, trying to keep them calm. They tried to keep everyone going to their lessons but people couldn’t concentrate.’
Luke Warsmey said: ‘The explosion was like a large match going off at the end of the carriage. People just started sprinting. It was every man for himself when that happened. The burn victims had severe leg injuries.
‘It was a very busy commuter train, young and old, school children going to their schools. I saw was nannies trying to look for kids, because of the rush of people just taking five and six year olds away from them and they were trying to look for them.
‘There were lots of injuries from people being trampled on and everyone who had been close to it had the same burns to their head.’
Armed policemen stand by cordon near Parsons Green tube station – and the Met will flood London with them over the coming days
A police cordon remained outside Parsons Green Tube station on Friday afternoon following the blast during the morning rush hour
A forensic officer in blue overalls walks along the pavement near Parsons Green tube station as the investigation continued into the attack on Friday
Emma Stevie, 27, described a ‘human stampede’ after the bomb went off. She said: ‘I heard lots of screams and people saying ‘run, run’. We got out and then there was a human stampede, down the stairs.
‘There were people lying underneath getting crushed, a big human pile-on. I wedged myself in next to a railing. I put myself in the foetal position. I kept thinking, ‘I’ll be ok, I’ll be ok’.
‘There was a pregnant woman underneath me and I was trying really hard not to crush her.’
Ryan Barnett, 25, who was further up the train, recalled: ‘I was sitting there, headphones in, at Parsons Green, the doors open fine, I’m not really paying attention, and all of a sudden hundreds of people run past me screaming a mixture of ‘stampede’, ‘attack’, ‘terrorist’, ‘explosion’, ‘get off the train’, ‘everyone run’.’
He made it to the staircase but stewards were shouting ‘stop, stop, stop’ and it turned into what another witness called a mass pile-up.
Mr Barnett said: ‘People were falling over, people were fainting, people were crying. There were little kids clinging on to the back of me.’ In the chaos, he said a pregnant woman lost her shoes and fell over.
‘There was sheer pandemonium and panic,’ added passenger Neil White, while another witness told LBC radio: ‘I was helping a lady up and she was unconscious – she was just getting trampled.’
Richard Aylmer-Hall told Sky News: ‘There were a few crush injuries on the stairs. People got squashed and crushed going down the stairs. Police evacuated everyone from the scene pretty quickly.
‘There was screaming, pushing and shoving – it was a like there was a terrorist on the loose with a gun or something – lots of people were in tears. When it was all over lots of people were being comforted and looked after. It was total chaotic panic.
‘A lady who had been on the same carriage as the device described it going off – a puff of smoke and flames coming out of it.’
Couple Lucy, 24 and Fabin, 29, were on their way to work when the explosion happened.
Lucy, who works in PR, said: ‘We just heard screaming and sprinting, there was a stampede on the stairs and people were falling over, there was a schoolboy being lifted up after he had fallen down, he was in his school uniform, he must have been about ten, he was crying and distressed.’
Fulham fitness instructor Niyi Shokunbi, 24, was in the next carriage the moment the bomb went off.
He told MailOnline: ‘I have never seen anything like it was like something out of a film. I thought it was an acid attack. It happened like bang within ten seconds, I just wanted to run.
‘I went towards the carriage where the bomb went off a woman said you don’t want to go in there. I saw a little boy with scratches on his face crying for his brother. A woman was bleeding. Everyone was running. I’ve never seen anything like it.’
There is terror and panic at the station on Friday morning, with police officers consoling members of the public
An injured man is helped into an ambulance – one of 18 ferried by ambulance to hospitals across London. Four others went to A&E themselves
A family with young children look towards the station in the aftermath of the terror attack on London on Friday morning
Luke Walmsley, a 33-year-old video editor, said: ‘It was complete pandemonium, complete terror. They didn’t open the gates and the Underground staff did not understand what was going on. People were shouting ‘He’s got a knife! He’s got a knife!’ I didn’t see anyone with a knife.’
He added: ‘In the immediate seconds there were people running and shouting, it was just like where do you run to?
‘People were rushing down the platform, everyone was doing a 100metre sprint. There were lots of injuries from people being trampled on.’
Accountant Sarah Hickson, 31, who was on her way to work from Putney to Paddington, said: ‘I heard everyone screaming ‘Run, run, run!’ and the whole Tube went into frantic panic.
‘Everyone was sprinting for the exit and someone was screaming, ‘There’s a man, there’s a man!’ One person tried to climb over the railings and over everyone else. It was total chaos.
‘There was a pregnant woman and a little boy of about ten. His face must have been crushed against the concrete stairs because when he stood up he had grazes all over his face. It was horrible.’
She added: ‘Transport for London staff were doing their best to get control but everyone was screaming, trying to get out.
‘Eventually they managed to get some calm and people moved ever so slightly back, allowing the boy and pregnant woman to get up.
‘I am physically OK but shaken up, it was a scary experience.’ Insurance broker Grace Watts, 27, from Fulham, said: ‘Everyone was being shoved and squashed then someone at the bottom started shouting at us to get back up.
‘It wasn’t a member of staff, but in the panic everyone assumed that there was an attack going on outside the station, and we were stuck in between.
‘There were some five or six boys from the London Oratory School – they were only 11 or 12 years old – who had cuts and bruises from the crush. It was sheer panic.’
She added: ‘There was one girl who was running down the stairs who got pushed right over and cut her leg. She looked like she was in a lot of pain. Instinct just kicked in – I thought there must be a bomb or a gunman so you just get away as quick as you can. People were terrified. It was really scary.’
Sixth form student Wella Mensah, 16, said people were ‘on the floor outside crying’ with scorched faces.
Wella, who attends nearby Lady Margaret School, said: ‘I was under the bridge the train was on. I was looking and people just started running past me.
‘I saw a bunch of girls. I asked if they were OK and they said there was a terrorist on the train and there was a fire.’
Commuters on the train behind witnessed terrified passengers sprinting away up the tracks. Nicole Linnell, 29, who works for a fashion label, said: ‘We saw people running down the tracks. About 30 or 40 people. It was absolutely terrifying.
‘Running on the tracks is the last thing you want to do, so we were like ‘What’s going on?’
‘After about an hour we were evacuated off the train on to the tracks, about ten to 15 people at a time.’
Armed Police, paramedics and firefighters were at the west London station within five minutes of the explosion
Witnesses said people were trampled on when they fled the train after hearing a ‘whoosh’ and seeing flames race towards them
Flames engulfed one carriage and raced along a train on a west London route to Parsons Green, forcing passengers to trample others as they rushed for an exit
Transport for London said Tube services were suspended between Edgware Road and Wimbledon on Friday. Services resumed as usual on Friday evening
Members of a bomb disposal squad exchange notes in the street near Parsons Green tube station on Friday morning
Timeline of terror: Parsons Green train bombing is FIFTH attack to hit Britain in 2017
March 22: Five people are killed in a car and knife attack in Westminster.
Khalid Masood drove a hire car over Westminster Bridge, near the Houses of Parliament, mounted the pavement and hit pedestrians before crashing into railings outside the Palace of Westminster.
He stabbed Pc Keith Palmer, 48, to death.
Also killed in the atrocity were US tourist Kurt Cochran, Romanian tourist Andreea Cristea, 31, and Britons Aysha Frade, 44, and 75-year-old Leslie Rhodes. Masood was shot dead by police.
March 22: Five people were killed in a car and knife attack in Westminster, London
May 22: Twenty-two people – including children – are killed in a bombing at a pop concert in Manchester.
Lone suicide attacker Salman Abedi detonated an explosive device as crowds of music fans, many of them youngsters, left Manchester Arena following a performance by US singer Ariana Grande.
May 22: Twenty-two people – including children – are killed in a bombing at a pop concert in Manchester
Lone suicide attacker Salman Abedi detonated an explosive device as crowds of music fans, many of them youngsters, left Manchester Arena
June 3: Eight people are killed in a terror attack around London Bridge.
A van ploughed into people on the bridge before the three attackers carried out a knife rampage in Borough Market.
The perpetrators – Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22 – were shot dead by police.
Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22 – were shot dead by police
June 19: One man dies and several others are injured after a man allegedly rams his van into worshippers in north London.
Darren Osborne, 47, of no fixed address in Cardiff, is charged with murder and attempted murder after being accused of carrying out a premeditated attack on Muslims as they left a mosque on Seven Sisters Road, Finsbury Park.
June 19: One man dies and several others are injured after a man allegedly rams his van into worshippers in north London
Police warned there is no such thing as a ‘typical terrorist’ after official statistics showed rises in numbers detained across ethnicities and age groups.
There were 379 arrests for terrorism-related offences in the year ending June 2017, the highest number in a 12-month period since data collection began in 2001.
Police and MI5 are running 500 investigations involving 3,000 individuals at any one time, while there are also 20,000 former ‘subjects of interest’ whose risk must be kept under review.