Sept. 18 (UPI) — British authorities are still searching areas around London Monday related to last week’s terrorist bombing at a crowded subway station.
The older suspect was named as Yahyah Farroukh, a native of Syria — and the younger suspect, who’s not yet been identified, moved to Britain from Iraq at age 15 after his parents died.
Officials stopped Farroukh outside a fried chicken restaurant in the Hounslow area of west London on Saturday night. Farroukh’s house in Stanwell and the home of Penelope and Ronald Jones — who at one time reportedly fostered him — were searched Monday.
Police said the 18-year-old suspect, who was arrested in Dover, was also “connected” to the Jones property.
The Jones couple were previously honored by Queen Elizabeth II for serving as foster parents for hundreds of children, including refugees from the Middle East.
Acquaintance Tabitha Jenkins said the 18-year-old suspect was “a lovely young man. He was polite, courteous to the old couple. They wouldn’t know anything about him.”
ITV News released footage Sunday of a man leaving the Sunbury house 90 minutes before the attack. He was carrying a bag that resembled one photographed on a train involved in the attack.
Farroukh, a former student at West Thames College, is said to be one of nine siblings. Family members, who live in Europe and Egypt, told ABC News they last spoke with him on Saturday morning and “everything seemed fine and normal.”
They said he didn’t have any radical or violent tendencies.
Dozens were hurt when an improvised explosive device exploded aboard a crowded London Underground train at Parsons Green station during the morning rush hour Friday. None of the injuries were serious.
On Sunday, authorities scaled Britain’s threat level down to “severe” — meaning an attack is highly likely — from “critical,” which means an attack is imminent.
