July 7 survivors relive horror

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By Adam Fresco of The Times


Terrified survivors of the July 7 bombings in London last year sat in dark carriages desperate for help as emergency services were held back for fear of a second explosion.

Trapped for up to an hour surrounded by screams of the injured and dying, they waited for help without any communication from anyone in authority.

Some of the survivors told today how they watched people die as they waited for assistance, trying to stem wounds with shirts, ties and jackets.

Often stopping to catch their breath the 11 survivors told the July 7 Review Committee in London how they thought they were going to die in a fire or be consumed by smoke and toxic fumes. The bombings killed 56 people including the bombers themselves.

Once they got above ground the help they expected was still not in evidence and many of the walking wounded were left to make their own way to hospital in complete shock. In the hospitals they were taken to staff were not aware there had been a bomb and still thought there had been a power surge on the tube system.

Michael, a victim of the Aldgate bombing, had blood pouring from several wounds and could not see out of one eye but was able, with others, to walk along the tracks to Aldgate station. When he got there he found groups of firemen standing around.

"I asked the firemen why they were not down there, there were people dying down there and they would not look at me but looked at each other. I said the same thing to a second group. They could not look at me. I walked up a flight of stairs and asked the same to a third group and they said they were worried about a second explosion.

"I said can you tell your senior officers there are people dying down there - they need your help."

Standing in the next carriage to the bomber, he said that he heard two men talking in a foreign language with some English after the explosion. "I heard them say ‘Wow’ and ‘Great’ at which point I stared at the man and thought it was a terrorist. They disappeared very quickly."

Describing the scene he said all he could hear was screaming coming from the next carriage. "Screams coming from people dying are very different from panic screams and they live with me today.

"We sat for what seemed to be an age waiting to be rescued." Then he decided to walk to Aldgate tube station.

Later, at a memorial service, Michael said he met a fire officer who told him they had been were worried about a second explosion. "The protocol, being worried about the second explosion, stopped them from going down. This is not a criticism of the emergency services but I ask them to look at protocols."

Kristina, who was on the King’s Cross train, told the committee: "There was no communication from anyone, no assistance. We had no idea how or if we would get out or when people would come to get us.

"All we wanted was for someone to tell us ‘We know you are there’. We were there for about half an hour not knowing if we were going to live or die.

"We had no direction, people were crying, trying to breathe. There were no underground staff or emergency personnel telling us what was happening."

Rachel, who was on the same train, said that as she walked to Russell Square platform with about 35 other passengers she tried to reassure them.

"I said there would be doctors and nurses and ambulances and water and oxygen and help. We were taken to the ticket hall in a state of extreme shock, most of us had cuts, shrapnel wounds and blood pouring out of our ears.

"At Russell Square there were scenes of chaos. Commuters were still trying to get into the station. There were no ambulances or doctors. An off duty nurse said she would call an ambulance for me, I said I didn’t need one but to call one anyway because others would need it."

With glass and metal sticking out of her wrist, Rachel called a friend to take her to hospital and was one of the first injured to arrive. "The news was saying it was a power surge but I was telling them people were going to start coming in with bomb blast injuries. People then came in covered in blood, one person had lost half a leg."

Joe, whose wife was terribly injured on the train travelling between Kings Cross and Russell Square, said: "My sad conclusion about the emergency plan and the extent it worked is that it only worked because of the brave decisions and actions and initiative of individuals on the day." He said that police officers defied protocol to enter the tunnels despite being told there may be a second bomb.

Ben, a victim of the Edgware Road bombing, said he asked the driver if he had the key to a locked first aid box hanging on the wall and the driver said he did not and it would be empty anyway.

After 40 minutes, Ben said, he made it to the platform. "There were about four or five people on the platform and I said ‘there are at least four people dead and four badly injured' but I could not make them go back. I found myself outside and asked a policeman what I should do and he said ‘go home and watch the news’ to find out if the smoke was biological or chemical.

"There should have been a quicker response from the medical services. We were let down ... There was no effort made to record names of people on the trains."

Paul Dadge, who was pictured helping a woman in a burns mask to safety from the Edgware Road bombing, said that 25 minutes after the bomb there were no emergency vehicles outside the station apart from 12 firefighters.

The former firefighter said he took control and made a nearby Marks& Spencer the rendezvous point for the injured and emergency services but there were not enough medical supplies, despite an ambulanceman passing a message there were 1,000 casualties. The delay in ambulances arriving was noticable. People were taken to hospital in police riot vans."

Jane, who was on the Kings Cross tube, said she finally got out of the train at 9.50am and made her way to the ticket office. "There were people bleeding around us, there was chaos all around. It was mayhem. All I knew was that I had been frightened beyond anything in my life. There were no announcements."

Kirsty, who was on the same train, added that she was on the train for half an hour before two police officers appeared. "It seemed to me to be a rather weak response. They had come on their own free will and reassured us all." Once outside, she said, no-one approached the injured and shocked to ask their names or see if they were all right.