The news greeting us from London this morning is VERY bad, as just a day after being selected for the 2012 Olympics, a series of blasts rock London’s Ungerground. This is evidently a terrorist attack; while the word from the press is that “officials were not ruling [it] out,” it’s pretty damned obvious that when a serious of explosives are set off in heavily populated mass transit system near-simultaneously, it’s not exactly a friendly gesture.
Scores are reported injured (no exact counts yet as of this writing), and at least two 40 dead so far. The report from AP/CNN:
LONDON, England (CNN) — Near simultaneous explosions rocked the London Underground network and at least one bus at the morning rush hour, police said, causing fatalities and prompting officials to shut down the entire underground transport network.
In the first report of casualties, City of London police told CNN there had been two fatalities at Aldgate east station. At least 90 people are reported to have been injured.
The explosions came a day after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics and as the G8 summit was getting under way in Scotland. Initial reports blamed a power surge, but officials were not ruling out a terrorist attack.
The speculation: are these blasts related to the G8 summit, the Olympic site selection or both?
Also, Gold apparently jumped in price after reports of the explosions rippled through the media. I’m no economist; so I have no clue why this is. Anyone know what investors are thinking?
UPDATE: A group claiming to be an Al Qaeda affiliate is claiming responsibility. And obviously, the US is nervous. State police officials are currently stationed around NY/NJ area train stations, as well as in Washington, Massachussetts and other major “hard target” transit centers.
