Several people injured as home-made explosive device sends 'fireball flying down Tube train carriage in west London'

Terrified commuters 'ran for their lives' after an explosion on a London Underground train this morning. People fled in panic and jumped out train doors after a 'fireball flew down the carriage', leaving several passengers with serious facial burns on the packed rush hour train in Parsons Green, west London. One witness told the BBC there was a 'bang' and then a 'wall of flames', which spread through the packed carriage. The doors opened at Parsons Green and the commuters, many of them with scorched faces and hair, ran off screaming.

Armed Police, paramedics and firefighters were all said to be at the west London station within five minutes of the explosion.  Pictures from the District Line train show a burning plastic bucket stashed in a Lidl carrier bag, which is said to have exploded and sent a fireball down the carriage. A photograph of the flaming white bucket taken just after it exploded around 8.20am shows a number of wires protruding out of the top and on to the train carriage floor - but police have not yet confirmed if it was a bomb.    Horrified witnesses on social media claim there is a stampede as people are 'screaming and running off trains'.

Emergency services are at the scene in west London with reports suggesting several people are injured.
As Facebook and Twitter was swamped with claims the incident was terror attack, Scotland Yard tweeted at 8.51am: 'We are aware of reports on social media RE #ParsonsGreen. We will release facts when we can - our info must be accurate'.
A London Fire Brigade spokeswoman said: 'We were called at 8.21am and we have information there was a fire on a train eastbound at the platform at Parsons Green.
'We have got two fire engines there.' 
The Met Police tweeted: 'We are aware of an incident at Parsons Green station. Officers are in attendance. More info ASAP.'
The London Ambulance Service also says it is on the scene, tweeting: 'We are on scene alongside the Met Police at Parsons Green. More information to follow.'
British Transport Police said: 'We're aware of an incident at Parsons Green station. Officers are at the scene. The station is closed.'
Transport for London said it is 'investigating an incident at Parsons Green' and urged customers travelling between Wimbledon and Earls Court to use alternative routes.
Natasha Wills, of London Ambulance Service, said: 'We were called at 8:20am to reports of an incident at Parsons Green underground station.
'We have sent multiple resources to the scene including single responders in cars, ambulance crews, incident response officers and our hazardous area response team, with the first of our medics arriving in under five minutes.
'Our initial priority is to assess the level and nature of injuries. More information will follow when we have it.'