Fears for more NZers in London

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not ruling out the possibility that more New Zealanders could have been caught up in London's deadly blasts on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Phil Goff has already said they hold grave fears for one young New Zealand woman who was on the Tube when the bombs went off.

But he now says that, although there are no New Zealand names on the lists of casualties at any of London's hospitals, there are still hundreds of Kiwis still to be tracked down.

Mr Goff said there are tens of thousands of New Zealanders living and holidaying in London at the moment and in an incident of this magnitude there is clearly a possibility some of them could have been either injured or killed.The parents of the young woman missing since the rush-hour bombings are on their way to the United Kingdom, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) said.

The woman is the only New Zealander the ministry had voiced serious concerns about since Thursday morning United Kingdom time when four explosions on public transport killed at least 50 people and injured 700.

MFAT public affairs director James Kember said the woman was believed to have been on a Piccadilly line underground train on her way to work and would normally have exited the train at Russell Square.

The second blast at 8.56am UK time struck a front carriage on a Piccadilly line train between Kings Cross and Russell Square stations.

MFAT would not reveal the woman's age or what part of New Zealand she came from.

MFAT had about 1000 names on its database, of which about half had been contacted and ruled out as not being missing.

"We are making inquiries about the other half," Mr Kember earlier told NZPA. "That doesn't alter the fact that there is only one person we have serious concerns about."

Staff from the New Zealand High Commission in London had now finished scouring central London hospitals for any injured New Zealanders, Mr Kember said. "They are now concentrating on getting casualty lists."

The High Commission had no reports so far of New Zealanders being serious injured in the explosions.

There had only been about a dozen calls to the High Commission's call centre on Friday and the office would now close overnight (UK time), he said.

People seeking information were advised to contact the Red Cross emergency centre on 0800 REDCROSS (0800 733 276) which had fielded 1500 inquiries since the terror attacks.

Meanwhile, MFAT has revised and upgraded its travel advice for the United Kingdom, ministry spokesman Brad Tattersfield said.

MFAT was not advising against non-essential travel to the UK.

"The latest advice notes that there is a heightened general and non-specific terrorist threat to the UK, with further attacks possible," he said.

"New Zealanders are advised to maintain a high level of personal security and to be extra vigilant when travelling on public transport in the UK."

The UK remained in MFAT's "some risk" category following the revised advise.

On its website, the ministry recommended New Zealanders planning to travel to London contact travel agents to check whether their travel plans would be affected and to, if necessary, make alternative arrangements.

"Security measures will be increased at major airports and at other transportation networks in the UK, government buildings, tourist sites and other public areas," the website said.

Messages of support and sympathy have been sent from New Zealand to Britain, and in return Britain has expressed its gratitude through the British High Commission in Wellington.

High Commissioner Richard Fell said yesterday New Zealanders had responded admirably to the attack and condemned those responsible.

"We will show by our spirit and dignity that our values will long outlast theirs -- and we will not be terrorised," he said.

Governor General Dame Silvia Cartwright has extended the sympathy of all New Zealanders to people affected by the bombings.

"All New Zealanders were shocked by the bombings in London," she said in a statement.

"Our thoughts are with the families of those that were killed, and also with the many hundreds who were injured. We hope that they will recover fully from this tragic event."

Prince William, who is visiting New Zealand to support the touring Lions rugby team and undertake a number of official duties, will sign a condolence book at the British Consulate-General in Auckland today.

With responsibility for the attacks being claimed by previously unknown Islamic extremists calling themselves the "Secret Group of al Qaeda's Jihad in Europe", New Zealand's Muslim community has united to condemn the bombings.

The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand has said the Muslim community was shocked and saddened by events in London.

Federation president Javed Khan said Islam denounced terrorism at all levels and that the acts were "totally against the teachings of Islam".

"Islam promotes peace and security to all mankind. It does not allow lawless action against innocent people and their property, no matter when, where or under what pretext such action might be taken," he said.

The Muslim Association of Canterbury said the acts were "fundamentally un-Islamic, despicable and cowardly".

Lead singer of Cambridge band The Datsuns, Dolf de Borst, lives near the Edgware Road Station where the third bomb was detonated.

"Five people from around here died, just 300m from my home."

Home at the time, Mr de Borst saw people pouring out of the underground station. "They told us at the scene it was a bomb, but the TV coverage said it was due to a power surge."

Londoners would rally and things would soon return to normal, he said. "I'm very proud of all the people here. Everyone is very stoic."

Eugene Bogun and Phillip Stokes say some of their fellow New Zealand flatmates were considering coming home in the wake of the bombings, but the Rotorua men are vowing to stay put.

"There has been some talk of returning to New Zealand but I'm not in that frame of mind myself," Mr Stokes said. "I'm not letting it stress me too much."

The 24-year-old electrician, who began a working holiday in London in April, was working on a construction site in Slough when he received a panicked call from his mother in Rotorua.

"She was in tears because she'd been trying to reach me earlier but the lines were clogged.

"I had no idea what had happened."

- NZPA, NEWSTALK ZB