Artykuł pochodzi z pisma "Guardian"

Terror blasts rock London


At least seven explosions ripped through London's transport system today as suspected terrorist attacks on tube trains and a bus plunged the capital into chaos. At least two people are known to have been killed.
Officials shut down the whole of the London Underground system and Docklands Light Railway and cancelled all central London bus services as they tried to comprehend the scale of the disaster. Hundreds of wounded people are being treated in London hospitals.
The prime minister, Tony Blair, said it was "reasonably clear" the blasts were the work of terrorists and said it was "particularly barbaric" that attacks had been timed to coincide with the start of the G8 summit. He said he would leave Gleneagles in Scotland to return to London.
"It is our determination. They will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country, and other civilised nations around the world," Mr Blair said. "It's important however that those engaged in terrorism realise that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction in an attempt to impose extremism on the world."
One explosion ripped apart a double-decker bus at Tavistock Square near Russell Square. Union officials said they had received reports of two more bus explosions, but details were not immediately available and police did not confirm the reports.

Coordinated attacks across London

Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Ian Blair said: "We are concerned that this is a coordinated attack." He confirmed explosions at Edgware Road, King's Cross, Aldgate East, Liverpool Street, Russell Square station and Moorgate, as well as the explosion on the bus at Tavistock Square.
Police said two people had been killed in the explosion at Aldgate East station, and an unknown number at Edgware Road. A policeman on the scene of the bus explosion at Tavistock Square said people had been killed there too. The ambulance service spoke of "a number" of fatalities.
Sir Ian said there had been many casualties but would not give estimates of the numbers of people involved. Sir Ian said that the most seriously injured people were currently being operated on.
He urged people to stay at home until further notice and not go into central London.
"We are gradually bringing order to the city. Just stay where you are for the time being until the situation clears," he said.

Hospitals deal with horrific injuries

Julian Nettle of St Mary's hospital London said the hospital was dealing with four people with critical injuries including loss of limbs, and eight people with serious injuries such as head wounds. He said a further 14 people were being treated for more minor injuries including hearing loss, which he said seemed to have been caused by being involved in an explosion. The Royal London hospital said it had treated 95 people, including seven with critical injuries.
Laura Matthews, a press officer at Universities UK, which has offices in Tavistock Square, said she had seen bodies lying around the bus explosion, some of them without arms or legs. "Get people down here quickly," she sobbed. She thought a bomb had gone off and was trying to evacuate her office.
There were unconfirmed reports that a number of people on the bus had died. "We believe there have been a number of fatalities and a number of people who are seriously injured," a policeman at the scene said.
Union officials said their sources had told them there had been at least one explosive device on the Underground. British Transport police initially said power surges had caused explosions across the network. The blasts began just before 9am as commuters were made their way to work.
Emergency services attended to wounded passengers outside Aldgate station, and there were reports of passengers covered in soot emerging from King's Cross. Commuters came out of tunnels covered in blood.
A passenger on the train that exploded at Edgware Road said he had seen several bodies in the wreckage, the Press Association reported.
A Scotland Yard source said the force would be setting up a casualty bureau, with a telephone number for people to call if they were worried about their loved ones.

Downing Street emergencies committee meets

The home secretary, Charles Clarke, said the public would be kept updated on the situation. A Commons statement was expected later today.
Mr Clarke confirmed there had been "terrible injuries" in the explosions across the capital. Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, he said the Cobra civil emergencies committee of senior ministers had met.
The police had taken "operational command" of the situation, he said.
"Health services are in support to deal with the terrible injuries that there have been, and I want to express sympathy on behalf of the whole government," he said.

'There were loads of people screaming'

Eyewitness Belinda Seabrook said she saw the explosion rip though a double-decker bus as it approached Tavistock Square, which is between Euston and Russell Square stations.
"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.
Simon Corvett, 26, from Oxford, was on the eastbound train leaving Edgware Road tube station when an explosion happened.
"All of sudden there was this 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 and everyone fell off their seats," he said.
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. 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'," he said.
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. There were some people in real trouble."
Eyewitnesses reported "multiple casualties" at Liverpool Street. A spokesman for the Airport Express Alliance, which operates the Heathrow Express, Gatwick Express and Stansted Express train services said: "They are operating on injured people on the concourse at Liverpool Street station."
One witness who had been in a train at the time of the explosions reported seeing "bodies everywhere" in the carriages and limbs lying on the floor. Emergency services reported several injuries. Scotland Yard declared the emergency a "major incident".
The shutdown of the London Underground system is thought to be unprecedented.
A British Transport police spokesman said two trains remained stuck in tunnels at Edgware Road, but it is not known whether they had collided or whether passengers remained on board.
"It's difficult to know exactly what is going on at the moment," he said. "The initial report came from Liverpool Street, but there are incidents occurring across the network."
He said officers have been sent into the network to assist with rescue operations.
"Officers are working at tunnel and platform level to help get people out and to help find out what has happened," he said.
The public were warned to stay clear of London for non-essential journeys. A Network Rail spokesman said southbound services into the capital were terminating at Watford, with no onward bus transfers.
"Some trains are being cancelled and others are getting as far as Watford," he said. "The message we are trying to get across to passengers is don't travel if you don't have to."
News of the explosions caused the FTSE 100 index of leading shares to plunge by over 200 points.


blast- wysadzać w powietrze, niszczyć
casualty- ofiara (wypadku)
coincide with- zbiegać się z, schodzić się z
come to a grinding halt- zatrzymać się
commuter- osoba dojeżdżająca np. do pracy
concourse- zgromadzenie; zbiegowisko
eastbound- skierowany na wschód
explosive device- materiał wybuchowy
eyewitness- naoczny świadek
fatality- ofiara śmiertelna
gutted- wypatroszony, zrujnowany
impose (on)- narzucać
initially- początkowo
occur- wydarzać się, mieć miejsce
on behalf of- w imieniu (czyimś)
onward- dalszy (idący naprzód, kontynuowany)
plunge- pogrążać; spadać (o cenach)
power surge- skok napięcia sieciowego
rip though- rozdzierać
rip- drzeć, rozrywać
shatter- roztrzaskiwać się, rozpadać
soot- sadza
southbound- skierowany na południe
unprecedented- bezprecedensowy
wreckage- gruzy, szczątki, wrak


TEST