FIRST came the bang. Then came the ash, soot, smoke, a silver spray of flying glass, and blood. And then there was the confusion, the panic, the darkness and the dead.
The London Underground is a bad place for a bomb, and a miracle that so many survived. Their faces were peppered by grazes and blackened by dirt that had clung to tunnel walls for decades until it was blasted over the victims.
Arash Kazerouni, 22, a trading standards officer, was on a packed Circle Line train at 8.51, 100 yards into the tunnel from Liverpool Street and heading for Aldgate, when the first blast struck. “The train ground to a halt. People started panicking, screaming and crying as smoke came into the carriage. Everyone was terrified.” Passengers remained trapped for 40 minutes until led to safety.
Mr Kazerouni added: “I went past the carriage where the explosion was. The metal was all blown outwards, and there were people inside being helped by paramedics.”
Loyita Worley, 49, on the same train, spoke of a brief shower of ash that made it difficult to breathe.
“Everyone was stunned. We could see a flickering light, and thought there was going to be a fire. We could not open the door of the carriage at first; when we got out, we could see seriously injured people in the tunnel.”
Underground officials with torches appeared within 20 minutes of the blast and led survivors to Aldgate. “It was very dark, but walking past the front of the train I could see the doors had been blown off and there were injured people everywhere,” Mustafa Kurultu, 24, a graphic designer, said.
The death toll of seven on the Circle Line train was light compared with the devastation caused by the next blast at 8.56 between King’s Cross and Russell Square, deep below ground on the Piccadilly Line, where 21 died. Fiona Trueman, 26, was on a train three minutes out of King’s Cross heading for Russell Square. “There was a massive bang, and smoke and glass everywhere. I’ve still got some in my hair. The lights went out, and with the smoke we couldn’t breathe. We sort of cushioned each other during the impact because the compartment was so full. It felt like a dream; it was surreal.”
Source
The London Underground is a bad place for a bomb, and a miracle that so many survived. Their faces were peppered by grazes and blackened by dirt that had clung to tunnel walls for decades until it was blasted over the victims.
Arash Kazerouni, 22, a trading standards officer, was on a packed Circle Line train at 8.51, 100 yards into the tunnel from Liverpool Street and heading for Aldgate, when the first blast struck. “The train ground to a halt. People started panicking, screaming and crying as smoke came into the carriage. Everyone was terrified.” Passengers remained trapped for 40 minutes until led to safety.
Mr Kazerouni added: “I went past the carriage where the explosion was. The metal was all blown outwards, and there were people inside being helped by paramedics.”
Loyita Worley, 49, on the same train, spoke of a brief shower of ash that made it difficult to breathe.
“Everyone was stunned. We could see a flickering light, and thought there was going to be a fire. We could not open the door of the carriage at first; when we got out, we could see seriously injured people in the tunnel.”
Underground officials with torches appeared within 20 minutes of the blast and led survivors to Aldgate. “It was very dark, but walking past the front of the train I could see the doors had been blown off and there were injured people everywhere,” Mustafa Kurultu, 24, a graphic designer, said.
The death toll of seven on the Circle Line train was light compared with the devastation caused by the next blast at 8.56 between King’s Cross and Russell Square, deep below ground on the Piccadilly Line, where 21 died. Fiona Trueman, 26, was on a train three minutes out of King’s Cross heading for Russell Square. “There was a massive bang, and smoke and glass everywhere. I’ve still got some in my hair. The lights went out, and with the smoke we couldn’t breathe. We sort of cushioned each other during the impact because the compartment was so full. It felt like a dream; it was surreal.”
Source