Search For Bodies, Clues In London
British police raised the death toll to more than 50 in
as commuters reluctantly descended into the Underground Friday. But buses and subways carried fewer riders than normal the day after four rush-hour blasts jolted the city.Sir Ian Blair, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said the bodies of 13 people killed on the double-decker bus that was hit Thursday had been recovered, giving the first official tally from that attack.
Blair said earlier that more than 50 people were killed in all four attacks and it wasn't immediately clear how that toll was affected by the commissioner's announcement later to reporters.
All bodies have been recovered from the bus but not from a train hit deep underground, Blair said.
Blair said police had made no arrests but they have "lots and lots" of leads. He said there was no evidence that the attacks had been carried out by suicide bombers.
Assistant Police Commissioner Andy Hayman said that officials still hadn't gotten near the subway cars of the Russell Square station, fearing that the tunnel is unsafe. Twenty-one dead were confirmed in that blast.
He said officials believe the bombs were placed on the floors of the three subway cars that were hit. He said the initial investigation suggests that each bomb had less than 10 pounds of explosives.
He appealed for patience as the investigation proceeds. "Our people are working under the most extreme circumstances."
Queen Elizabeth II said Friday that the bombings in London "will not change our way of life."
"Atrocities such as these simply reinforce our sense of community, our humanity, our trust in the rule of law. That is the clear message from us all," during a visit to Royal London Hospital, where many bombing victims were being treated.
At least 700 people were wounded in the attacks, with 100 still in the hospital, including 22 in serious or critical condition with burns, amputations and fractures.
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."
Michael Clarke, a professor of defense studies at Kings College in London, told CBS News' The Early Show that "London, like New York, gets back to normal fairly quickly. London has not been surprised by this, they've not been shocked by it. They're very saddened by it. But they're very fatalistic. They expected something like this to happen."
reports British investigators are poring over surveillance camera tape looking for clues, if not the outright faces of the terrorists who pulled off Thursday's attack. There are tens of thousands of surveillance cameras on London streets – 6,000 in the London subways alone.Stewart says investigators now suspect all the bombers used what they called the "step-on, step-off" delivery system of dropping off a bag and quickly leaving.
Based on evidence recovered from the rubble, investigators believe some of the bombs were on timers, a U.S. law enforcement official said. The official would not further describe the evidence. Investigators doubt that cell phones — used in the Madrid train attacks a year ago — were used to detonate the bombs in the Underground because the phones often don't work in the system's tunnels, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Thursday's blasts went off within 18 minutes at three subway stations, starting at 8:51 a.m. An explosion ripped the roof off a double-decker bus less than an hour later, attacks that came as world leaders were opening the G-8 summit in Scotland.
, who just the day before had been basking in glory of Britain's successful Olympics bid, condemned the attacks and blamed Islamic extremists. Foreign Minister Jack Straw said the attacks bore the hallmark of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network.Security has been ratcheted up in the United States and around the world.
upped the terror alert a notch to Code Orange for the nation's subways and bus lines. CBS News Correspondent Bob Orr reports U.S. commuters are seeing big guns, bomb dogs and S.W.A.T. Teams as authorities do what they can to protect U.S. mass transit."I want Americans to know that our transit system is safe. I want them to be vigilant, but I want them to go about their business and continue to pursue their daily life," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told CBS News' The Early Show.
Much of Europe was also on alert, and Italy's airports have raised alert levels to a maximum.
A group calling itself the "Secret Group of al Qaeda's Jihad in Europe" has claimed it was behind the attacks, but that claim has not been verified. In a posting on a Web site, the group said the bombings are 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 the posting is considered to be a "potentially very credible" claim, in part because it appeared soon after the attacks.