| Passengers leave Parson’s Green Underground station after it reopened following an explosion on a rush hour train on Friday morning |
British police arrested an 18-year-old man in the southern port of Dover on Saturday in a “significant” development in the hunt for the people behind a London commuter train bombing that injured 30 people a day earlier.
Prime Minister Theresa May put Britain on the highest security level of “critical” late on Friday, meaning an attack may be imminent, and soldiers and armed police deployed to secure strategic sites and hunt down the perpetrators.
The home-made bomb shot flames through a packed commuter train during the Friday morning rush hour in west London but apparently failed to detonate fully.
“We have made a significant arrest in our investigation this morning,” said Neil Basu, Senior National Co-ordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing.
“Although we are pleased with the progress made, this investigation continues and the threat level remains at critical.”
The arrest was made in the port area of Dover, where passenger ferries sail to France.
The blast on the London tube train at the Parsons Green underground station was the fifth major terrorism attack in Britain this year and was claimed by Islamic State.