Clues Emerging in London Bomb Blasts as Crews Hunt for Missing and Bodies

LONDON (AP) -- Police revised the timing of the deadly blasts that tore through the London Underground, saying on Saturday the explosions were detonated just seconds apart and were so powerful that none of the 49 dead have been identified and bodies remain trapped deep inside a rat-infested subway tunnel. Hundreds have been reported missing.

Meanwhile, late Saturday in Birmingham, police ordered the evacuation of thousands of people from the city's entertainment district because of intelligence suggesting a security threat.

Police initially restricted road traffic into the city center, but then ordered an evacuation after receiving further intelligence, a police spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity.

Birmingham, in central England, was the target of one of the worst Irish Republican Army bombings of the 1970s. Twenty-one people died when the IRA bombed two pubs on Nov. 21, 1974.

Initial investigations showed that three bombs exploded almost simultaneously on Thursday and were made of high explosives, suggesting the material was not homemade. It was possible the explosives were industrial or military materials bought on the black market, although investigators said it was too early to pinpoint the explosives' origins.

Transit officials originally said the blasts occurred within 26 minutes of each other but computer software that looked at train positioning and electric circuits showed the exact times of the rush hour blasts, the first one clocked at 8:50 a.m.

The near-simultaneous detonation of the bombs suggested they were detonated by timers not by suicide bombers, Deputy Assistant Police Commissioner Brian Paddick said Saturday. Still, the investigation was in its early stages and nothing was being ruled out, he said.

As sobbing relatives held pictures and searched for missing loves at subway stations around the city, crews looked into reports of more than 1,000 people missing.

Although police said they expected the toll to rise, officials said they doubted a significant increase. More than 20 people were still in critical condition and several bodies remained in the Russell Square subway tunnel. It was unclear how many bodies remained trapped.

Heat, dust and dangerous conditions were slowing crews from removing the bodies, wedged beneath the wreckage. Many of the tunnels are more than 100 feet (30 meters) deep.

''It is a very harrowing task,'' said Jim Dickie, a detective. ''Most of the victims have suffered intensive trauma, and by that I mean there are body parts as well as torsos.''

Forensic experts were relying on fingerprints, dental records and DNA analysis to identify the victims of the blasts. None of the 49 dead had been identified and forensic experts were struggling to identify the bodies while preserving evidence at the crime scenes.

Police were asking for hair samples from family members of some of the victims to positively identify the bodies. Many of the body recovery teams worked during December's tsunami.

Londoners, meanwhile, returned to the Underground, still weary of another attack. The bomb blasts paralyzed the subway Thursday, stranding hundreds of thousands of commuters.

On Sunday, the subways were expected to be packed once again with an estimated 20,000 traveling to the city for a cricket match between England and Australia.

''There's just less people,'' student William Palmer, 23, said at the Chancery Lane subway stop. ''Everyone's looking around a little bit more.''

Investigators wouldn't say Saturday whether they were looking for specific suspects in the blasts but repeated statements that the blasts bore the signature of al-Qaida.

Al-Qaida, the terror network blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, is known for its sophisticated timing of attacks.

''It will be some time before this job is completed and it will be done with all the necessary dignity to the deceased,'' said Andy Trotter of British Transport Police said.

The first bomb exploded at the Aldgate station in east London. Two more went off within seconds, police said Saturday after showing a diagram on computer software.

The bombs were lighter than 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds) each and could be carried in a backpack. A fourth destroyed a bus near a subway entrance and investigators Saturday began testing the buses roof for clues on the type of explosive used.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said Saturday he was aware of a claim of responsibility posted on the Internet by a group calling itself The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe. He told BBC radio that it was ''reasonably obvious that it comes from that type of quarter.''

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.

A second claim appeared on a Web site Saturday, this one signed Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades.

The group's name evokes the alias of Mohammed Atef, Osama bin Laden's top deputy who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan in November 2001. But experts say the group has no proven track record of attacks, and note it has claimed responsibility for events in which it was unlikely to have played any role, such as the 2003 blackouts in the United States and London that resulted from technical problems.

At King's Cross station, near the site of the deadliest of the three subway bombings, Underground service was partially restored on Saturday.

Flowers and sympathy cares piled up outside honoring the dead _ at least 21 were killed on the train bombed between King's Cross and Russell Square stations.

More than 700 were injured, including nationals from Sierra Leone, Australia, Portugal, Poland, China, Germany, Denmark and South Africa.

A group of Muslims held a peaceful vigil outside St. Mary's Hospital on Saturday, showing their solidarity with victims of the blasts.

About 20 people left bouquets of flowers for five patients being treated at the hospital, just yards away from the Edgeware Road subway station where one of the bombs exploded.

''We must remember that terror is all around us these days, that terror has no homeland or nationality and no religion and that we all face the same problems together,'' said Iman Hassan Ali, from the Dar Al Islam Foundation.

''We all want to understand these incidents and today we are here to give our support to the victims and say that we will stand together despite terrorism.''

As people showed support for victims and the injured, some battled back anger.

''Damn them,'' said Anita Rosada, 74, a former pasta chef from Venice who moved to London in 1956 and was feeding swans at St. James Park on Saturday. ''They are murderers.''