7 July 2005 London bombings

7 July 2005 London bombings
3
1
Liverpool Street Station
2
Edgware Road
3
King's Cross St Pancras/Russell Square
4
Tavistock Square
1km
0.6miles
4
3
2
1
LocationLondon, England
Date7 July 2005 (2005-07-07)
8:49–9:47 a.m. (UTC+1)
TargetPublic aboard London Underground trains and a bus in Central London
Attack type
Suicide bombings, mass murder, terrorism
WeaponsImprovised explosive devices
Deaths56 (including the four bombers)
Injured784
Perpetrators
MotiveIslamic extremism

On 7 July 2005, Islamist terrorists carried out four coordinated suicide bombings targeting commuters travelling on London's public transport during the morning rush hour. The attacks were also known by several names, including the 7/7 bombings or simply 7/7 (pronounced "seven seven").

Three terrorists separately detonated three homemade bombs in quick succession aboard London Underground trains in Inner London. Later, a fourth terrorist detonated another bomb on a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square. The train bombings occurred on the Circle Line near Aldgate and at Edgware Road and on the Piccadilly Line near Russell Square. All four explosions were caused by improvised explosive devices made from concentrated hydrogen peroxide and pepper, packed into backpacks.

Apart from the bombers, 52 people of 18 nationalities were killed and nearly 800 were injured in the attacks. It was the UK's deadliest terrorist incident since the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 near Lockerbie and the UK's first Islamist suicide attack.