7/7 bombings timeline: How the day unfolded

There were 52 victims in the July 7 2005 terrorist attacks on London

Police guard the entrance to King's Cross on July 7 2005 (AFP) (AFP/Getty Images)

This is how events unfolded on Thursday July 7 2005, the day four suicide bombers brought terror to London.

3.58am: A light blue Nissan Micra hired by Shehzad Tanweer, 22, and thought to have had Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, and Hasib Hussain, 18, as passengers is caught on CCTV in Hyde Park Road, Leeds, before joining the M1.

5.07am: Jermaine Lindsay, 19, arrives at Luton station car park in a red Fiat Brava.

6.49am: The Micra arrives at Luton and parks next to the Brava. All four men get out and appear to move items between the two boots before putting on rucksacks.

7.15am: The men enter Luton station and go through the ticket barriers heading to the platform for the Thameslink train to London King's Cross.

7.40am: The train sets off.

The memorial to the 7/7 victims in London’s Hyde Park (AFP) (AFP/Getty Images)

8.23am: The train arrives at King's Cross, slightly late after a delay further up the line. The four head in the direction of the London Underground system.

8.30am: Four men fitting their descriptions are seen hugging before splitting up. Khan boards a west-bound Circle Line train, Tanweer an east-bound Circle Line train, and Lindsay a south-bound Piccadilly Line train. Hussain also appears to walk towards the Piccadilly Line entrance.

8.50am: Three bombs explode within a minute on London Underground trains.

Liverpool Street: Seconds after leaving the platform the eastbound Circle Line train is blown up by Shehzad Tanweer - almost certainly in the second carriage from the front. Eight people die including Tanweer, with 171 injured.

Aldgate tube station following the attack (PA)

Edgware Road: The westbound Circle Line train is blown up by Mohammad Sidique Khan. who is also in the second carriage from the front. Seven people including Khan are killed, and 163 injured.

Between King's Cross and Russell Square: Jermaine Lindsay blows himself up in the packed front carriage, killing 27 people including himself and injuring more than 340.

8.55am: Hussain walks out of King's Cross Underground station and tries unsuccessfully to contact the other three.

9.19am: A man thought to be Hussain is seen on a bus to Euston, from where he is believed to have boarded the Number 30 bus.

9.30am: Cobra, the Government's national crisis management facility, is activated in response to the explosions.

9.47am: Hussain detonates his bomb on the number 30 bus at Tavistock Square, killing 14 people including himself, and injuring more than 110.

The remains of a double-decker bus (PA)

10.21am: Scotland Yard confirms there have been "multiple explosions" in London.

Noon: Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, says: "It is reasonably clear there have been a series of terrorist attacks in London."

Afternoon: There are subsequent statements from Home Secretary Charles Clarke in the House of Commons, and London Mayor Ken Livingstone in Singapore with the 2012 Olympic bid team. Mr Blair returns to London during the afternoon.

5.50pm: United Nations Security Council unanimously condemns the attacks.

10.19pm: Hussain's family report him missing.

11.40pm: Among several items reportedly found by a police exhibits officer are cards and personal items in the name of "Sidique Khan" and "Mr S Tanweer" at Aldgate.

Press Association