'Painstaking' body search goes on

Workers have been struggling to recover bodies from the wreckage

Recovery teams are continuing the "slow painstaking" task of trying to pull bodies and evidence from the wreckage of the train blast near Russell Square.

Deputy Chief Constable Andy Trotter said some bodies had been removed from the scene but officers were continuing to work through the train.

Body recovery expert Sgt Gary Locker said the priority was to recover the deceased with dignity.

The teams face gruelling conditions working in intense heat underground.

Challenging task

Mr Trotter, of the British Transport Police, told a press conference: "Because of the difficult circumstances it is a slow painstaking and methodical task."

Recovery teams are working towards the back of the train to find bodies and forensic clues in what Mr Trotter described as one of "the most challenging" of the four bomb blast sites.

As recovery work continues people pay their respects

Teams were using specialist equipment, including a trolley capable of carrying 1000 kilos of equipment and people, to the scene of the recovery which is about 600 metres away from King's Cross.

Sgt Locker, who is in overall charge of training and co-ordinating the disaster recovery team, said officers would continue working for as long as the operation took.

Thursday's bomb went off in the first carriage of the train, packed with around 1000 commuters. Twenty-one passengers are so far confirmed dead.

Recovery teams are working in dangerous and cramped conditions 70ft (21.3m) underground in a three-and-a-half metre wide tunnel only a little larger than the train itself.

Earlier BBC correspondent Mark Simpson said: "One rescue worker described it as 'hell on earth'."

The tunnel where the blast occurred is much deeper than the seven metre-deep Circle Line tunnels where bombs struck commuters near Edgware Road and Aldgate Tube stations.

The security services believe thorough examination of the carriage could hold vital clues over the identity of those responsible.