An IRA bomb exploded at rush hour Friday in the men's room of one of London's busiest train stations, injuring at least 28 people and snarling public transportation for hours, officials said.
"Everyone was coming off of one of the trains with blood on them. Blood was everywhere," said Alexandra Hussey, 13.Four of the injured were in serious condition following the explosion at London Bridge train and subway station, hospital officials said. Most of the injuries were caused by flying glass.
There was no direct claim of responsibility, but minutes before the blast, a caller using a known Irish Republican Army code word told Ulster Television's London bureau that a bomb was planted at a central London rail station.
"I am satisfied this was a typical, irresponsible, criminal and callous act carried out by the provisional IRA," said Cmdr. George Churchill-Coleman, head of Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist unit.
"The indirect, so-called warning of less than nine minutes was designed to kill," he said, adding that the bomb weighed about two pounds.
The IRA has been targeting British train and subway stations in its violent campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland.
Prime Minister John Major, at his home in Huntingdon, said the explosion "will not make a scrap of difference to the government's policy on terrorism."
The blast tied up public transportation as authorities shut down and searched the city's subway and train systems, the London Underground said.
By mid-afternoon, however, all rail and subway lines were running again, and only three rail and one subway stations remained closed.
"I was knocked through the air like the man of the flying trapeze," said Thomas Cranmer, 79, of Bexley, who was standing near the toilet. "They say I blacked out for about two minutes. When I came to I could see the train windows had been blown in."