London Picks Up The Pieces

Bodies Of 49 People Recovered So Far, But Death Toll Expected To Rise

(CBS/AP)  London began the difficult journey toward healing on Friday after in deadly bombings struck its transport system. Commuters cautiously returned to the subways, Muslims wary of a backlash held Friday prayers, and the fabled entertainment districts that canceled shows resumed performances.

But much of the city remained eerily quiet. Bombed subway stations were shrouded in security curtains and refrigerated trucks waited outside to cart away bodies still trapped in the city's deep tunnels.

Police said the bodies of 49 people had been recovered but warned the death toll would rise. An estimated 22 people were in critical condition and many were reported missing, although emergency management officials would not give specific numbers.

"We didn't know where to go," said Sasha Vargas, 22, a college student from San Diego, California who was on her first trip to London when the blasts struck Thursday.

British Transport Police, who oversee the Underground, said crews were still working around the wreckage of a subway train near Russell Square where at least 22 people died. Crews had reached the carriage and had seen other bodies but it could take days to recover them, said Deputy Chief Constable Andy Trotter. Many of the tunnels are more than 100 feet deep and rat infested.

"This is an enclosed tunnel and it is very difficult conditions and it's a bit dangerous," he told reporters. "It will take some time before everyone is removed from there."

Sir Ian Blair, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said he expected the toll to rise but doubted it would reach triple digits.

More than 700 were injured in Thursday's attacks on London — the worst attack in the city since World War II, Blair said, adding that the injured included citizens of at least five countries in addition to Britain — Sierra Leone, Australia, Portugal, Poland and China. One person died in the hospital, where 100 victims spent the night, Blair said.

Authorities have said the attacks bore the signatures of the al Qaeda terror network and current and former American counterterrorism officials said they were taking seriously an Internet claim of responsibility by a group calling itself The Secret Organization of al Qaeda in Europe.

Little was known about the group, but a Web statement in the same name claimed responsibility for the last major terror attack in Europe: the bombs on commuter trains in Madrid in March 2004, that killed 191 people.

In claiming responsibility, the group said the bombings were punishment for Britain's involvement in the war in Iraq and invasion of Afghanistan. It threatened to attack Italy and Denmark for their support of the U.S.-led coalitions in both countries, too.

A senior U.S. counterterrorism official said Thursday that the Internet posting was considered a "potentially very credible" claim, in part because the message appeared soon after the attacks and didn't appeared rushed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because investigations were ongoing.

Blair, the police commissioner, said there was no evidence that the attacks involved suicide bombers but that officials hadn't ruled out the possibility.

The blasts paralyzed the city's public transportation system, halting subway service, delaying buses and stranding thousands of residents and tourists.

Weekend concerts by Queen and REM in Hyde Park also were postponed by a week because of safety concerns.

London's mass transit system reopened Friday, though some commuters, admitting they were afraid, opted for a taxi. Normally packed double-decker buses carried just a handful of passengers, and many Underground stations were less congested than normal. But others said they had little choice but to board the subway.

"I was scared, but what can you do?" said Raj Varatharaj, 32, emerging from an Underground station. "This is the fastest way for me to get to work. You just have to carry on."