A manhunt is underway in London after an explosion of a bucket bomb on a subway train during rush hour Friday morning sent up a fireball and led to at least 22 people getting taken to hospitals. Authorities are treating the blast as a terror attack.
"This is a live investigation," Assistant Commissioner for London's Metropolitan Police Service, Mark Rowley, said after the blast in the Parsons Green tube station just after 8 am local time, reports ABC News.
Eyewitnesses said the blast occurred as the train pulled into the station.
"I heard a loud bang and as I looked to my right, there was a flame, a fireball came through the carriage ... As the doors opened, people then began leaving the train straight away," said Martin Adams, who was riding in the subway car at the time. "I saw some flames coming from what I thought was a blue bag."
"I saw a couple people with burns. One lady had her hair badly singed by the fire," said Sally Faulding, who witnessed the panic on the subway platform. "I also saw people injured obviously from having been stampeded on the platform because we were all running. People were falling over."
The London Ambulance Service said it transported 22 people to the hospital, but none of the injuries are serious or life-threatening. The London Ambulance said it responded to the scene in West London with multiple resources, including ambulance crews, incident response officers and its hazardous response team.
"There were no casualties at all on the train. Everybody appeared to get off," Adams told ABC News. "There was nobody laying on the platform floor. I assessed that there were no serious casualties at that time."
Police said the improvised explosive device on the train did not fully explode. No arrests have been made at this time.
British Prime Minister Theresa May plans to hold an emergency cabinet meeting at 1 p.m. local time.
A British government official said the incident is being treated as a terror attack but so far it appears to be an isolated incident.
The Metropolitan Police Service said the incident is being treated as a terrorist incident.
