Simon Corvett, 26, from Oxford, was on the eastbound train leaving Edgware Road tube station when an explosion happened.

"All of a sudden there was this huge bang. It was absolutely deafening and all the windows shattered. The glass did not actually fall out of the windows, it just cracked. The train came to a grinding halt and everyone fell off their seats," he said.

Mr. Corvett, who works in public relations, said the commuter train was absolutely packed. He said: "There were just loads of people screaming and the carriages filled with smoke.

"You couldn't really breathe and you couldn't see what was happening. The driver came on the Tannoy and said, 'We have got a problem. Don't panic.'"

Mr. Corvett, whose face was covered in soot, joined other passengers to force open the train doors with a fire extinguisher. He said the carriage on the other track was destroyed. "You could see the carriage opposite was completely gutted. There were some people in real trouble."

Eyewitnesses reported "multiple casualties" at Liverpool Street. A spokesman for the Airport Express Alliance, which operates the Heathrow Express, Gatwick Express and Stansted Express train services said: "They are operating on injured people on the concourse at Liverpool Street station."

One witness who had been in a train at the time of the explosions reported seeing "bodies everywhere" in the carriages and limbs lying on the floor. Emergency services reported several injuries.

The total shutdown of the London Underground system is thought to be unprecedented.

The public were warned to stay clear of London for non-essential journeys. A Network Rail spokesman said southbound services into the capital were terminating at Watford, with no onward bus transfers, but services began to resume later in the day.

Tim O'Toole of London Underground said he aimed to have the tube back in service tomorrow, though some lines would be severely curtailed.

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