- (Bloomberg) -- Four suspects were identified from closed-circuit
television by police investigating last week's London bombings. One of
the men probably died in the attack and police are investigating whether
the others also were killed.
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- One arrest was made in the northern English county of
West Yorkshire, where the homes of three of the suspects were among six
searched today, police said. Police didn't give the names of the four men,
nor did they say how the man arrested may be linked to the attacks on three
subway trains and a bus that killed at least 52 people and injured about
700.
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- "The investigation led us officers to have concerns
about the movements and activities of four men, three of whom came from
the West Yorkshire area," Peter Clarke, head of terrorism investigations
for the U.K. police, said today in a televised briefing. "We are trying
to establish their movements in the run-up to last week's attacks, and
specifically to establish if they all died in the explosions."
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- Police have several hundred witness statements, and have
begun combing through more than 2,500 CCTV tapes, Police Assistant Commissioner
Andy Hayman said in the briefing. The deadliest attacks on London since
World War II created the biggest crime scene in English history, police
said.
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- Coordinated Attack
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- Bombs exploded on three London Underground subway trains
in a coordinated attack during the morning rush hour on July 7. The blasts
took place within a 50-second period starting at 8:50 a.m. local time and
a fourth bomb went off 57 minutes later on one of the capital's red double-decker
buses. The attack was claimed by two groups in the name of al-Qaeda.
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- The assault began about 20 minutes after the four men
were captured on CCTV at King's Cross, police said. The routes of the three
subway trains and the bus include the station, which is on the northern
edge of central London.
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- One of the men, who was reported missing by his family
at 10 a.m. on the day of the attack, set out that morning from West Yorkshire
and was joined by the three others on his journey, Clarke said.
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- Personal Documents
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- "We have since found personal documents bearing
the name of three of the four men close to the seats of three of the explosions,"
he said. "We also have very strong forensic and other evidence that
it is very likely one of the men from West Yorkshire died in the explosion
at Aldgate." He stopped short of calling the attacks suicide bombings.
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- Property of one of the men was found at the scene of
the bus bomb in Tavistock Square, the property of another was found at
the scene of the train blast near Aldgate station, and that of a third
man was discovered at both Aldgate and Edgware Road stations, where another
device exploded on a train, Clarke said.
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- Police didn't mention anything about finding property
belonging to a fourth suspect, or about any evidence from the site of the
explosion on a subway train between King's Cross and Russell Square stations.
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- Police have described the conditions in that blast as
"horrific," with the wreckage several hundred meters into the
tunnel, which had little clearance and has asbestos particles in the air.
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- North of the capital, Luton rail station was shut today
after a vehicle linked to the bombings was found there, police said. Controlled
explosions were carried out in Luton and at one of the West Yorkshire addresses.
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- 'Intelligence-Led Operation'
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- The raids were part of a "pre-planned, intelligence-led
operation," West Yorkshire Police said earlier in a statement on their
web site. Clarke said that one man was arrested in the county, and was
being brought to London for questioning.
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- The military carried out the controlled explosion to
gain access to a house during the sixth West Yorkshire raid, in the Burley
area of Leeds, Inspector Miles Himsworth of West Yorkshire police said
in a briefing aired live by the British Broadcasting Corp. Between 500
and 600 people were evacuated from nearby homes and a mosque, he said.
The house was being searched for explosives, police said.
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- In Luton, the station was closed at 2:45 p.m. local time
"on the grounds of public safety so that a car parked there can be
recovered," Bedfordshire Police said in an e-mailed statement. A 100-meter
(328-foot) cordon was put up around the area and rail service to the station
was suspended, police said.
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