A series of explosions rocked the center of London Thursday, causing at least two deaths, an undetermined number of injuries, and crippling the British capital's rail and bus systems. The blasts occurred as the Group of Eight meeting of the world's largest industrial nations and Russia was under way in Scotland, but there was no immediate official indication as to whether it was a terrorist attack.
The explosions thundered across London during the morning rush hour, forcing a closedown of the city's underground rail system. Police also reported at least two buses were blown up.
Ambulances and fire engines defied massive traffic jams to try to get to six heavily affected rail stations. At one of them a police spokesman reported, "quite a large number of casualties" and there were reports that several people may have been killed in one of the bus blasts.
Britain's home secretary, Charles Clarke, said the health services were dealing with what he described as the "terrible injuries" that had resulted.