London fights to regain footing

'Stoicism and resiliency'
As Wednesday’s jubilation at winning the 2012 Summer Olympics gave way to the terrible shock of Thursday’s attacks, Blair rushed back to the capital and made a televised appeal for unity, praising the “stoicism and resiliency of the British people.”

Both were in evidence across the city, as volunteers helped the wounded from blast sites, commuters lent their phones so strangers could call home, and thousands faced long lines for homeward-bound buses or even longer walks without complaint.

“As Brits, we’ll carry on — it doesn’t scare us at all” said tour guide Michael Cahill, 37. “Look, loads of people are walking down the streets. It’s Great Britain — not called ’Great’ for nothing.”

Headlines in Friday’s newspapers reflected characteristic defiance.

“Our spirit will never be broken,” said Britain’s top-selling Sun tabloid, calling Thursday morning’s rush-hour bombings “56 minutes of hell”.

“In the name of New York, Washington, Bali, Nairobi, Madrid and now London, we shall have vengeance and justice,” the Sun said in an editorial, reflecting on a worldwide conflict littered with many tombstones.

“We Britons will never be defeated,” said the Daily Express, which devoted 35 pages to the attacks.

Atop Buckingham Palace, the British flag flew at half-staff.

Security raised around the world
Security was raised in the United States and around the world. The Bush administration upped the terror alert a notch to code orange for the nation’s mass transit systems, and bomb-sniffing dogs and armed police patrolled subways and buses in the capital.

Much of Europe also went on alert, and Italy’s airports raised alert levels to a maximum.

Police said at least 700 were wounded. Among them, at least 45 were in serious or critical condition, including amputations, fractures and burns, hospital officials told The Associated Press.

At the scene of the bus explosion, bystander Raj Mattoo, 35, said the roof of the double-decker “flew off and went up about 10 meters (30 feet).”

Timeline of attacks
Deputy Assistant Police Commissioner Brian Paddick said the first explosion hit a London Underground train that was 100 yards into a tunnel outside Moorgate station in the financial district in east London. Seven people died there, he said.

The second blast, at 8:56 a.m., was in the King's Cross station area of north London, and killed 21, Paddick said.

The third explosion, at 9:17 a.m., was near the Edgware station and killed seven people.

The bus explosion occurred at 9:47 a.m. At least two people were killed there.

Jay Kumar, a business owner near the site of the bus blast at Tavistock Square in central London, said he ran out of his shop when he heard a loud explosion. He said the bus’s top deck collapsed, sending people tumbling to the floor.

Many appeared badly injured, and bloodied people ran from the scene. “People were running this way panicked," he said. "They knew it was a bomb. Debris flying all over, mostly glass.”

Office worker Kibir Chibber said at one subway station that “I saw lots of people coming out covered in blood and soot. Black smoke was coming from the station. I saw several people laid out on sheets.”

Simon Corvett, on an eastbound train from Edgware Road station, described “this massive huge bang ... It was absolutely deafening and all the windows shattered.”

“You could see the carriage opposite was completely gutted,” he said. “There were some people in real trouble.”

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