Title: What time did the trains explode?
Description: All at 8:50, or at 8:51, 08:56 and 09:17
Description: All at 8:50, or at 8:51, 08:56 and 09:17
The Antagonist - December 9, 2005 09:46 AM (GMT)
The Metropolitan Police statement from 7th July:
| QUOTE |
| Metropolitan Police response to terrorist attack in London The Metropolitan Police Service Casualty Bureau has now opened. [16.30] Members of the public who are concerned about relatives or friends who may have been affected by today's incidents in London are asked to call us. We would also like to hear from people who were injured or involved in the events to let us know they are safe. This line should be used for this purpose only and NOT for general enquiries. The numbers to contact are 0870 1566344 and 020 7158 0010. If you are calling from outside the UK the number you should dial is 00 44 20 7158 0010. We now additionally have a typetalk number for people with hearing difficulties who are concerned about friends or relatives on 18001 0870 1566344. If you are unable to get through straight away please be patient as demand is likely to be high. We would like to reassure the public that we are working hard to gain an accurate picture of the whereabouts of people believed to have been involved in the incidents. Anyone who has managed to get home is advised to contact their relatives and those who will be worried about them. This will help relieve the pressure on the casualty bureau. People are advised to stagger journeys home and to be prepared for long delays. For travel updates click here There follows an outline of this morning’s events: At 08.51 on 7 July at Liverpool Street Station there was a confirmed explosion in a carriage 100 yards into the (Liverpool Street-bound station) tunnel. At 08.56 there was another incident at King’s Cross / Russell Square. Both stations were used to bring out casualties. Walking wounded came up from the line at King’s Cross. There were seven confirmed fatalities, 10 seriously injured people and 100 walking wounded in this incident. All those who were injured have now been treated, and at 12.30 the London Ambulance Service withdrew from Russell Square. Two mortuaries are being set up - these are at the Royal National Hotel and the Holiday Inn in Bloomsbury. There are 21 confirmed fatalities and others with injuries from these two incidents. At 09.17 there was an explosion on a train coming into Edgware Road underground station approximately 100 yards into the tunnel. The explosion took place on a train and blew through a wall onto another train on an adjoining platform. There were five fatalities and others injured in this incident. Three trains are believed to have been involved. At 09.47 there was an explosion on a bus at Upper Woburn Square junction with Tavistock Place. There are fatalities on the bus but it is not known how many. We estimate many casualties. There were four devices in total and there are 33 confirmed fatalities. There was no warning to police and we have not received any claims of responsibility. These were callous attacks on innocent members of the public deliberately designed to kill and inflict maximum injury. Source: Metropolitan Police |
According to the Government Office for London, the timeline of events on the morning of July 7th, as supplied to them by the Metropolitan Police, is as follows:
| QUOTE |
| Terrorist Attacks on the Capital Published: 08/07/05 The following details have been provided by the Metropolitan Police as an outline of events on Thursday 7 July 2005. At 08.15 on 7 July there was an explosion in a train carriage 100 yards from Liverpool Street Sation. At 08.56 there was another incident as Kings Cross / Russell Square. Both stations were used to bring out casualties. At Kings Cross there were 7 confirmed fatalities, 10 people seriously injured and 100 walking wounded. At 09.17 there was an explosion on a train coming into Edgeware Road underground station approximately 100 yards into the tunnel. Five fatalities were confirmed. At 09.47 a bus exploded at Upper Woburn Sqaure junction with Tavistock Place. At present the number of fatalities has not been confirmed. There were 4 devices in total, the Police did not receive a warning and have not yet received any claims of responsibility. All those injured have now been treated. Two mortuaries have been set up at the Royal National Hotel and the Holiday Inn in Bloomsbury. ' These were callous attacks on innocent members of the public deliberately designed to kill and inflict maximum injury'- Metropolitan Police Service. |
First explosion at 08:15? Is a typographical error excusable from a government office in connection with such serious events?
Second explosion at 08:56 - this is the train time referred to by 7/7 survivor Rachel North in her Sunday Times article on 26 November. (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1892288,00.html)
From the BBC story of events, as recommended by Detective Inspectors in the Scotland Yard Anti-Terror Squad:
| QUOTE |
| TIMELINE OF KEY EVENTS Early on 7 July, Hasib Hussain, Shehzad Tanweer and Mohammad Sidique Khan travel from their West Yorkshire homes to Luton by hire car. At Luton station they meet Germaine Lindsay from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. The four are caught on CCTV as they enter the station. The four bombers board a train for London King's Cross. Each carries a rucksack packed with explosives. At King's Cross they fan out - Tanweer and Khan take the Circle line in opposite directions while Lindsay takes the Piccadilly line south. Their bombs explode at 0850. Nothing is known of Hussain's movements until 0947 when he blows up a bus in Tavistock Square. |
Five months later and 'nothing is known of Hussain's movements until 0947'?
Hasib Hussain was also absent from the alleged 'rehearsal' that three of the alleged bombers are alleged to have carried out on 28 June and from which a relatively large amount of CCTV footage has been released.
Five months later and where is the CCTV evidence from 7 July?
| QUOTE |
| Blast Details Emerge Updated: 16:19, Saturday July 09, 2005 The emergency services have released further details on the London terrorist attacks. Representatives from the police and the London Underground issued new information about the blasts during a press conference in London. Here are the main points: :: Three bombs went off almost simultaneously, within 50 seconds of each other. They were originally believed to have been set off over one hour. :: The device on the bus was believed to have been carried in a bag. :: Evidence indicates the bombs were triggered by timers. :: The bombs contained about 10lbs of explosives. This suggests they were not home-made, but had a commercial or military purpose. :: Police have not identified any specific suspects over the bombings. :: Emergency services do not know how many bodies still remain in the carriages. :: Identification of some bodies could take up to two weeks. :: Formal identification of bodies will begin Saturday afternoon. :: The roof of the blasted bus has been removed for forensic examination. :: A reception centre is being set up in central London later today for relatives of those affected. Further details will be released shortly. :: A 24-hour casualty line has been set up. The number is 0870 1566 344. :: Those who reported missing relatives to the casaulty centre who have since been reunited with them are urged to call back so cases can be closed. :: Many victims suffered "extensive trauma". Disembodied body parts are making identification of victims difficult. :: Environmental conditions for rescuers in the Underground are "harrowing". Source: Sky News |
More from WikiNews:
| QUOTE |
| London Tube bombs went 'bang bang bang, very close together' From Wikinews, the free news source you can write! Jump to: navigation, search July 9, 2005 July 7 London bombings After a press conference in London from the Metropolitan Police and Transport for London, more details are emerging about the attacks in London on Thursday. Data from the Underground system's power and control systems have revealed that all three bombs went off within 50 seconds of each other, at 8.50am, with the managing director of Transport for London, Tim O'Toole saying the bombs went "bang bang bang, very close together". The first bomb to detonate was on the Liverpool Street train soon after it left for Aldgate on the Circle line, seconds before the others. The blast tripped out the power system, visible in the control room. The first call the police received that morning reported "a bang" at Aldgate East, coming within a minute of the blast. The Edgware Road train, leaving for Paddington and also on the Circle, exploded opposite a train coming from the other direction, making people think at first that it was a derailment. The first call to the Police spoke not of an explosion, but of a person falling under the wheels of the train. The confirmation of a bomb did not come until 9.17am, but by that time the emergency services were already on scene. Transport for London's new TrackerNet software is fully opertational on the Circle line, which allows for precise tracking of trains, but is not yet fully installed on the Piccadilly line. The first indication of the Piccadilly line bomb was when the tunnel telephone system wires were cut by the blast, an event logged by other software. The cutting of the lines then tripped out the track current. The tunnel itself suffered only slight damage and is safe, but the train - which was packed with commuters heading for Russell Square - is very badly damaged. London Underground declared a 'code Amber' within minutes, moving trains to platforms and opening all doors. A 'code Red' - full evacuation - was set at around 9.15am. O'Toole described the decision to evacuate as being "very grave, not taken lightly". When questioned as to whether everything possible had been done on the day to save lives, the managing director of Transport for London was "very proud" of the choices made that morning. As investigations continue, all bodies have been removed from the sub-surface Circle line trains, but the carriages themselves are still in situ while a painstaking forensic investigation takes place. Currently, work is on-going to retrieve bodies and forensic evidence from the carriage of the train in the deep tunnel of the Piccadilly line near King's Cross. Teams of rescue workers looking for human remains are working alongside forensics experts in a "meticulous" search to find evidence. Conditions are described as being very difficult, with high temperatures and lots of dust. Work was halted over Friday night when conditions became too bad, and resumed this morning. Efforts have been made to improve the ventilation. Work will continue throughout tonight and possibly into Sunday. The exact number of bodies still in the wrecked carriage is unknown. Access from King's Cross is impossible, so workers are taking the longer route from Russell Square station to get to the front of the train. Police have revealed that the bombs were 'high explosives' - not homemade. However they are declining to be specific about their composition as the information could be useful when they interrogate suspects. Police will not confirm or deny if any parts of a timer have been found, but have said that "any device will now be in a million pieces". Police believe the use of timers more likely than suicide bombings as the blasts were so closely timed, but are not ruling out anything. Source: WikiNews |
Here's the TFL press release on the timings:
| QUOTE |
| Tube train bombs simultaneou London Underground, the Metropolitan Police and the British Transport Police can now confirm that the three bombs which exploded on three Tube trains on Thursday 7 July 2005 went off simultaneously at around 08.50. Explosions were as follows (in succession): * Circle line train number 204 heading eastbound from Liverpool Street station to Aldgate station. * Circle line train number 216 travelling westbound heading from Edgware Road station to Paddington station. * Piccadilly line train number 311 travelling from King's Cross St Pancras to Russell Square southbound. London Underground operates a system called TrackerNet which allows staff to observe electronically the movement of rolling stock on the Tube network. It is presently being introduced for all London Underground lines and is in full operation on the Circle line. After careful consideration of the recorded archive of realtime movements on the Circle line we can confirm the above for Circle line trains numbers 204 and 216 to have occurred within the space of one minute respectively. Six images are available in the News Centre. The first three images show the sequence of train movements prior to and including the explosion at Aldgate. The remaining three show the sequence of train movements prior to and including the explosion at Edgware Road. TrackerNet is not yet live on the Piccadilly line between Hyde Park Corner and Arnos Grove. However, we can also confirm for the affected Piccadilly line train that the explosion occurred simultaneously at 08:50. Our evidence is based upon the precise time the Tunnel Telephone system on the Piccadilly line went out of service. The number of passengers travelling on the network peaks on weekdays between 08:45 and 09:00. Between 08:45 and 09:00 on Thursday 7 July 2005, over 200,000 passengers would have been travelling on over 500 trains. Whilst waiting for emergency services to arrive, London Underground staff comforted passengers in the most extreme and testing of situations with station staff literally holding some passengers together. The carnage underground should never be underestimated nor forgotten. Ends Source: Transport for London |
Once more, in relation to the timing of the Piccadilly Line blast: "Our evidence is based upon the precise time the Tunnel Telephone system on the Piccadilly line went out of service."
The Tunnel Telephone System shutdown is what TFL cite as the reason they know the Piccadilly Line train incident happened at 0850. This timing is in direct conflict with the time originally reported for the Piccadilly Line incident of 0856 and the eye witness account of 'Rachel North' published in the Sunday Times of November 27 which refers to passengers on the 0856 Piccadilly Line train from King's Cross.
The Antagonist - December 10, 2005 12:51 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Tube log shows initial confusion A log of events released by London Underground (LU) to the BBC shows the confusion surrounding the first moments of last Thursday's terrorist attacks. The network at first thought it was dealing with a power surge, a derailment and person under a train. The Met was called at 0851 BST but it was not until 0917 that they knew they were dealing with an explosion. And LU said its electronic train monitoring system allowed police to determine the bombs were simultaneous. LU said that a Code Red, the immediate shutdown of the network, was never called as this would have left many passengers trapped in trains which would have been stalled in tunnels across the network. Code Amber The Code Amber action allowed the majority of passengers to be de-trained at stations rather than proceeding through tunnels which is a slow and dangerous process. The LU spokesman said that between 0845 BST and 0900 BST on 7 July 2005, over 200,000 passengers would have been travelling on over 500 trains. He added that the majority of passengers who were not killed or seriously injured were evacuated within one hour. The LU log released is as follows: 0850: First indications received by London Underground's Network Control Centre (NCC) of a problem on the network suggested a power supply problem affecting a large area as stations were reporting that some escalators had stopped and other station equipment was no longer working. The NCC immediately treated this as a power supply issue and took actions to resolve the issue. At this stage NCC believed that the problem could be resolved and power would be restored by 09:15. What we now know is that the power surge occurred as a direct result of explosions knocking the power supply out at the three incident sites. 08:51: The Central Line called the NCC enquiring about a possible large noise or explosion onboard a train at Liverpool Street. 0851: The first call to the Metropolitan Police indicating that they were being asked to attend a person under a train incident caused by the derailment. 08:52: The Metropolitan Line confirmed that an explosion had taken place. NCC believed this to be directly related to the ongoing power supply issue. Loud noises or explosions often accompany a power supply rupture. 08:53: London Underground commenced Gold Control (command and control person in charge of a serious incident on the Underground). On its own a power surge is a major issue. 0859: The NCC receives a report indicating that a train departing Edgware Road station had hit the tunnel wall. Further information came in quickly, including smoke and passengers self de-training and walking down the tunnel towards the nearest station, Edgware Road. Sub-surface line managers immediately called the emergency services believing this to be a derailment. At this time, LU believed it was dealing with a major incident (derailment) and a serious power supply issue on the network. 09:01: The Metropolitan line reported that a person may be under a train at Liverpool Street. This was the third issue that the Network Control Centre was now dealing with within a space of eleven minutes. 09:03: The Piccadilly line Duty Operations Manager receives reports of passengers running from King's Cross. 09:05: The NCC is advised of walking wounded at Edgware Road. 09:09: An engineer reports losing a high tension power cable between Mansell Street and Moorgate. 09:10: The Piccadilly line Duty Operations Manager reports to NCC a request for ambulances. In the twenty minutes that had passed since. 09:11: The Piccadilly line Duty Operations Manager reports loss of traction current in Russell Square both east and westbound and that a loud bang had been heard at Russell Square westbound with staff already investigating. 0915: It was clear that the series of events occurring across the network were directly related to multiple explosions and a Code Amber alert was declared which means trains are brought into stations and told to stay there until further notice. This was LU commencing the shutdown of the entire Tube network as it was evident that the continued operation of the Tube presented a risk to customers if further explosions occurred. LU staff began de-training large numbers of passengers and evacuating them from the network. 0917: Metropolitan Police received a call specifically stating than an explosion had occurred at Edgware Road. This explains the Metropolitan Police reporting that the Edgware Road explosion occurred at 0917. The various emergency services were either in attendance or on their way to Edgware Road. We also know that the train did not derail and hit a tunnel wall. The NCC asked all Underground lines to continue to hold all services and identify trains they had in stations and what was stalled in tunnel sections. We then evacuated all remaining passengers from their trains - equivalent to a Code Red action - at 0946 which means that all trains remained stationary, remaining passengers were de-trained, stations commenced evacuation procedures and all services were suspended. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/engl...don/4674469.stm |
And a similar version of events also from the BBC with some additional information about the underground alert status:
| QUOTE |
| Explosions were as follows (in succession): Circle line train number 204 heading eastbound from Liverpool Street station to Aldgate station. Circle line train number 216 travelling westbound heading from Edgware Road station to Paddington station. Piccadilly line train number 331 travelling from King's Cross St Pancras to Russell Square southbound. London Underground operates a system called TrackerNet which allows staff to observe electronically the movement of rolling stock on the Tube network. It is presently being introduced for all London Underground lines and is in full operation on the Circle line. TrackerNet is a management information tool only and not a system on which to base safety critical decisions. This is complimentary to existing LU signalling and track systems which feed into the individual line control rooms. After careful consideration of the recorded archive of realtime TrackerNet movements on the Circle line we can confirm the above for Circle line trains numbers 204 and 216 to have occurred within the space of one minute respectively. TrackerNet is not yet live on the central section of the Piccadilly line. However, we can also confirm for Piccadilly line train 331 that the explosion occurred simultaneously at 08:50:00. Our evidence is based upon the precise time the Tunnel Telephone system went out of service. It was this information supplied by London Underground which enabled the Police to confirm that the explosions occurred simultaneously and was a critical development in the hunt for the perpetrators of these terrorist attacks. Emergency services in central London The events of Thursday morning were unprecedented. London Underground followed its well-practiced procedures to keep passengers safe based on the flow of information received. First indications received by London Underground's Network Control Centre (NCC) at 08:50 of a problem on the network suggested a power supply problem affecting a large area as stations were reporting that some escalators had stopped and other station equipment was no longer working. The Network Control Centre immediately treated this as a power supply issue and took actions to resolve the issue. At this stage NCC believed that the problem could be resolved and power would be restored by 09:15. What we now know is that the power surge occurred as a direct result of explosions knocking the power supply out at the three incident sites. At 08:51, the Central line called the NCC enquiring about a possible large noise or explosion onboard a train at Liverpool Street. At 08:52, the Metropolitan line confirmed that an explosion had taken place. NCC believed this to be directly related to the ongoing power supply issue. Loud noises or explosions often accompany a power supply rupture. At 08:53, London Underground commenced Gold Control (command and control person in charge of a serious incident on the Underground) in response to the first incident at 08:50. On its own, a power surge is a major issue. While this was being investigated, the NCC received a report at 08:59 indicating that a train departing Edgware Road station had hit the tunnel wall. Further information came in quickly, including smoke and passengers self de-training and walking down the tunnel towards the nearest station, Edgware Road. Sub-surface line managers immediately called the emergency services believing this to be a derailment. At this time, London Underground believed that they were dealing with a major incident (derailment) and a serious power supply issue on the network. The first call to the Metropolitan Police at 08:51 indicated that they were being asked to attend a person under a train incident caused by the derailment. It wasn't until 09:17 that the Metropolitan Police received a call specifically stating than an explosion had occurred at Edgware Road. This explains the Metropolitan Police reporting that the Edgware Road explosion occurred at 09:17. We now know this not to be the case as it has been proven that the three explosions on the Tube network occurred almost simultaneously. The various emergency services were either in attendance or on their way to Edgware Road. We also know that the train did not derail and hit a tunnel wall. At 09:01, the Metropolitan line reported that a person may be under a train at Liverpool Street. This was the third issue that the Network Control Centre was now dealing with within a space of eleven minutes. At 09:03, the Piccadilly line Duty Operations Manager receives reports of passengers running from King's Cross. At 09:05, the NCC is advised of walking wounded at Edgware Road. At 09:09, an engineer reports losing a high tension power cable between Mansell Street and Moorgate. At 09:10, the Piccadilly line Duty Operations Manager reports to NCC a request for ambulances. In the 20 minutes that had passed since 08:50, the Network Control Centre was now dealing with four separate issues (power supply, derailment at Edgware Road / person under train, person under train at Liverpool Street, loss of high tension power cable near Moorgate) and was receiving the appropriate co-ordinated response from LU, emergency services and suppliers. At 09:11, the Piccadilly line Duty Operations Manager reports loss of traction current in Russell Square both east and westbound and that a loud bang had been heard at Russell Square westbound with staff already investigating. By 0915, it was clear that the series of events occurring across the network were directly related to multiple explosions and a Code Amber alert was declared which means trains are brought into stations and told to stay there until further notice. This was LU commencing the shutdown of the entire Tube network as it was evident that the continued operation of the Tube presented a risk to customers if further explosions occurred. LU staff began de-training large numbers of passengers and evacuating them from the network. During the morning peak, LU operates over 500 trains and this is greater than the number of platforms on the network so some trains would have had to wait in tunnelled sections until they were clear to proceed into a station. Where possible, trains in tunnelled sections joined together so that passengers could walk through from one train onto another until they reached a station. The NCC asked all Underground lines to continue to hold all services and identify trains they had in stations and what was stalled in tunnel sections. We then evacuated all remaining passengers from their trains - equivalent to a Code Red action - at 09:46 which means that all trains remained stationary, remaining passengers were detrained, stations commenced evacuation procedures and all services were suspended. A Code Red, the immediate shutdown of the network, was never called. As this would have left many passengers trapped in trains which would have been stalled in tunnels across the network. The Code Amber action allowed the majority of passengers to be de-trained at stations rather than proceeding through tunnels which is a slow and dangerous process. Between 08:45 and 09:00 on Thursday 7 July 2005, over 200,000 passengers would have been travelling on over 500 trains. The majority of passengers who were not killed or seriously injured were evacuated within one hour. The three explosions presented a variety of complex operational issues for London Underground each requiring analysis and response. Source: BBC News |
The Antagonist - December 17, 2005 05:55 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| "TrackerNet is not yet live on the Piccadilly line between Hyde Park Corner and Arnos Grove. However, we can also confirm for the affected Piccadilly line train that the explosion occurred simultaneously at 08:50. Our evidence is based upon the precise time the Tunnel Telephone system on the Piccadilly line went out of service." Source: Transport for London |
The last line of that quote is perhaps the most interesting as the timing of the blast on the Piccadilly Line is being judged according to the time that the Tunnel Telephone system went out of service, not on any indication about when the explosion occurred.
Here's a bit of information about the Tunnel Telephone system from the TubePrune Trainweb Dictionary:
| QUOTE |
| Headwall tunnel telephone - A telephone in a sealed box located on a platform headwall which is connected directly to the tunnel telephone line system. It is used to switch off traction current in an emergency. Tunnel telephone (fixed) - A dedicated telephone, provided instead of tunnel telephone wires, fitted on the left hand side of the track at 61 metre intervals alternately placed either at cab level or at about 1.2 metres from track level and connected directly to the Line Controller. It is used to switch off traction current in an emergency. Tunnel telephone (train borne) - An independent communication device for use between a stationary train or vehicle and a Line Controller when it is necessary for a Train Operator to switch off the traction current supply in a tunnel section. Using the tunnel telephone for this purpose automatically connects the Train Operator to the Line Controller. It can be used in an emergency when the train radio is inoperative. Using the tunnel telephone for this purpose automatically switches off the traction current supply in the tunnel section. Tunnel telephone system - A safety system used to switch off traction current in an emergency and to communicate with the Line Controller. Tunnel telephone wires - Two parallel copper/bronze wires normally fixed along the left hand tunnel wall. When pinched together, traction current is switched off on that section. Source: TubePrune Trainweb Dictionary |
It is not known at this stage which Tunnel Telephone system the TFL press release refers to but, if the original Metropolitan police blast timings were correct (0851, 0856 and 0917) then the TFL statement tells us that a separate issue appears to have knocked out the tunnel telephone system at least one minute before any of the explosions occurred and six minutes before the Piccadilly Line blast.
What could have knocked out either the fixed or train-borne Tunnel Telephone systems on the Piccadilly Line before any of the blasts occurred?
The Antagonist - December 18, 2005 10:32 AM (GMT)
More from TubePrune on the Tunnel Telephone system with pertinent bits highlighted in bold. Bear in mind that we already know TFL based their timing for the Piccadilly Line blast on the time that the Tunnel Telephone system went down:
| QUOTE |
| Tunnel Telephone Wires London Underground tunnels are fitted with Tunnel Telephone Wires. These are uncovered wires used to switch off traction current in emergency. A current of 5-10 volts runs through the wires and energises a relay at the local substation(s). If this current is lost, the relay is de-energised and the circuit breaker opens at each end of that current section. This cuts off the 630v traction current feed. Even through the relay may then become re-energised, the circuit breakers will remain open until reset. The relay can be de-energised through various means such as the train operator pinching and rubbing the two telephone wires together or the the operator connecting a portable handset to the wires. This will then also allow him to speak to the Line Controller. Other connections on the wires in that section include tunnel telephones and section plungers provided at stations. The Line Controller has a remote facility (a bank of switches on his desk for each traction current section on the line) which allows him to effectively short circuit the tunnel telephone wires in the same way as the T/Op shorting them. Defective tunnel telephone wires/equipment will also result in the relay becoming de-energised. If the equipment cannot be reset due to a fault on the tunnel telephone circuit, the circuit can be overridden. A "T" board will then be displayed to drivers at the relevant stations to tell the train operators that the tunnel telephone wires are not working. With the advent of train radio, the tunnel telephone wires are rarely used to switch off traction current these days. However, they do offer an alternative means of contact to the Line Controller in an emergency if there is a problem with the train radio. Traction current will be switched off when the handset is used but the Line Controller can soon arrange for it to be switched back on again and using the tunnel telephone wires in this way will usually mean less of a delay than trying to contact somebody by other available means. Sometimes, too many trains in a section will cause current to go off. The more current drawn in a section, the more the traction current voltage drops. As a consequence, some equipment on a train may also cut, out MGs/MAs for example. Some black spot where this happens are between South Wimbledon and Morden (Northern), Russell Square and Holloway Road and Wood Green to Southgate, (Piccadilly Line) and Baker Street to Finchley Road (Met.). A favourite for South Wimbledon to Morden in 1938 Stock days was when trains were queuing up to get into Morden and it was nothing unusual to put the handle into motoring and find the tunnel lights come on, put it back to off and the lights go out. Traction current wasn't lost, but the drop in traction current voltage was sufficient that the tunnel lighting relays couldn't remain energised and thus the lights came on. From information posted by Roger Mather, uk.transport.london, May 2000. Source: TubePrune - Underground Track & Traction Current |
As TFL state, the Tunnel Telephone system on the Piccadilly Line was lost at 0850 meaning that the Piccadilly Line train driver contact with Line Controllers and other underground staff would have been limited to radio-only contact.
numeral - December 30, 2005 06:15 PM (GMT)
The Blue Watch article revisited yet again
The "Blue Watch" article does not give a train number. Instead it
describes the train as the 8.51am service. This can only be taken as an
actual departure time, since the trains were running late. It also
describes the train as follows:
"It was the 48th such service to leave London's busiest tube station
that morning, each carriage crammed with commuters, many reading the
newspaper coverage of London's Olympic triumph the previous day."
However it does give a carriage number, 346A. It is mentioned no less
than 11 times, including the title. 346A is described as the first
carriage twice. But car 346 cannot be the first carriage. It can only
be the third or fourth from the front. In addition it is a D car.
Later on in the article we have:
"The call-out that came at 9.04am on 7 July seemed as routine as they
come. Roche and his crew boarded engine Alpha 242 and set off. In his
hand a strip of tickertape read: 'Smoke issuing at Euston Square tube'
alongside the order that they should head as back-up to King's Cross
nearby. They remember the traffic being bad. By the time they pulled up
outside King's Cross, it was 9.13am.
Seventeen minutes earlier, three bombs had crippled the network but, as
Roche trooped on to the station concourse, his was the only emergency
vehicle parked outside the network's most vital hub."
Seventeen minutes before 9.13am is 8.56am, the original time given for
the Piccadilly Line explosion. The article was written in October.
This is so odd it can hardly be explained away as sloppy journalism.
It has been carefully crafted.
Discussion on uk.transport.london had yielded some extra information.
The train was first identified as 311, then over the weekend this was
changed to 331. A very knowledgeable person told me that 346A is a
nonsense, 346 would be a D car either the third or the fourth carriage.
As far as I can gather train 331 was made up as follows:
166-566-366-417-617-217 with 166 in front.
346 would indeed have (still has!) leading car 146.
Does 346 belong to train 311? We would then have 146-546-346 as a
half-train.
As the trains are allocated their 'running numbers' on the day, and
frequently have to be reformed throughout the day for service
requirements anyway, it's unlikely anyone would know now if 146 was in
the consist of 311 on that day.
331 is booked to go westbound through Kings X at 0829.
Bearing in mind that we'd just had a big shutdown that morning
at Caledonian Road then the train would be running late,
which I gather it was. The eastbound, where the defective train was,
had a 31 minute delay and the westbound delay was about 20 minutes.
Does the working timetable say whether 311 is booked westbound
through King's Cross around 0830?
It says: 0641 to Uxbridge and 1015 to Heathrow, but as I said earlier
331 was booked through at that time.
It takes 80 minutes minimum to get to Uxbridge from Cockfosters,
another 45 minutes minimum to get back to King's Cross. At around 0850
to 0900 is it scheduled to be heading eastbound through King's Cross?
Book says 0908 but because of the aforementioned shenanigans further
east I would suspect very, very late at that point as the smell of
burning was on the eastbound.
If it was running to timetable it would be far west of King's Cross.
Is it possible to find out the number of the 48th westbound service
through King's Cross?
Including the 5 booked engineers trains, 316 at 0754 - that is one well
late train, the 48th passenger only would be 324 at 0806 1/2.
The actual bombed train was the 62nd train of the day including
engineers or 57th without.
Did all 57 booked trains run? Could 9 or so trains have been cancelled?
Could 311 have been turned around short of Uxbridge?
At this point the discussion came to an end.
TrackerNet is operational on part of the Piccadilly Line.
311 should be shown on it.
Car 346 is still in in use.
So what were Blue Watch inside of that had a number 346?
Set your stopwatch going and see how long it takes you
to come up with a possible answer.
The "Blue Watch" article does not give a train number. Instead it
describes the train as the 8.51am service. This can only be taken as an
actual departure time, since the trains were running late. It also
describes the train as follows:
"It was the 48th such service to leave London's busiest tube station
that morning, each carriage crammed with commuters, many reading the
newspaper coverage of London's Olympic triumph the previous day."
However it does give a carriage number, 346A. It is mentioned no less
than 11 times, including the title. 346A is described as the first
carriage twice. But car 346 cannot be the first carriage. It can only
be the third or fourth from the front. In addition it is a D car.
Later on in the article we have:
"The call-out that came at 9.04am on 7 July seemed as routine as they
come. Roche and his crew boarded engine Alpha 242 and set off. In his
hand a strip of tickertape read: 'Smoke issuing at Euston Square tube'
alongside the order that they should head as back-up to King's Cross
nearby. They remember the traffic being bad. By the time they pulled up
outside King's Cross, it was 9.13am.
Seventeen minutes earlier, three bombs had crippled the network but, as
Roche trooped on to the station concourse, his was the only emergency
vehicle parked outside the network's most vital hub."
Seventeen minutes before 9.13am is 8.56am, the original time given for
the Piccadilly Line explosion. The article was written in October.
This is so odd it can hardly be explained away as sloppy journalism.
It has been carefully crafted.
Discussion on uk.transport.london had yielded some extra information.
The train was first identified as 311, then over the weekend this was
changed to 331. A very knowledgeable person told me that 346A is a
nonsense, 346 would be a D car either the third or the fourth carriage.
As far as I can gather train 331 was made up as follows:
166-566-366-417-617-217 with 166 in front.
346 would indeed have (still has!) leading car 146.
Does 346 belong to train 311? We would then have 146-546-346 as a
half-train.
As the trains are allocated their 'running numbers' on the day, and
frequently have to be reformed throughout the day for service
requirements anyway, it's unlikely anyone would know now if 146 was in
the consist of 311 on that day.
331 is booked to go westbound through Kings X at 0829.
Bearing in mind that we'd just had a big shutdown that morning
at Caledonian Road then the train would be running late,
which I gather it was. The eastbound, where the defective train was,
had a 31 minute delay and the westbound delay was about 20 minutes.
Does the working timetable say whether 311 is booked westbound
through King's Cross around 0830?
It says: 0641 to Uxbridge and 1015 to Heathrow, but as I said earlier
331 was booked through at that time.
It takes 80 minutes minimum to get to Uxbridge from Cockfosters,
another 45 minutes minimum to get back to King's Cross. At around 0850
to 0900 is it scheduled to be heading eastbound through King's Cross?
Book says 0908 but because of the aforementioned shenanigans further
east I would suspect very, very late at that point as the smell of
burning was on the eastbound.
If it was running to timetable it would be far west of King's Cross.
Is it possible to find out the number of the 48th westbound service
through King's Cross?
Including the 5 booked engineers trains, 316 at 0754 - that is one well
late train, the 48th passenger only would be 324 at 0806 1/2.
The actual bombed train was the 62nd train of the day including
engineers or 57th without.
Did all 57 booked trains run? Could 9 or so trains have been cancelled?
Could 311 have been turned around short of Uxbridge?
At this point the discussion came to an end.
TrackerNet is operational on part of the Piccadilly Line.
311 should be shown on it.
Car 346 is still in in use.
So what were Blue Watch inside of that had a number 346?
Set your stopwatch going and see how long it takes you
to come up with a possible answer.
The Antagonist - January 16, 2006 03:35 AM (GMT)
Another early report of the timings from The Guardian:
| QUOTE |
The police said the first blast occurred at 8.51am on a tube train about 100 metres into a tunnel from Liverpool Street station. Seven people died. The second blast, with the highest confirmed death toll so far, came five minutes later on a tube train on the Piccadilly line near King's Cross. Police confirmed 21 deaths. At 9.15am, a third explosion hit a train in Edgware Road station, blowing a hole through the wall of a second train and possibly affecting a third. The explosion killed seven people. The final blast came half an hour later on a number 30 bus at Tavistock Square, near Russell Square. Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/...1523169,00.html |
The Antagonist - January 19, 2006 09:38 AM (GMT)
Here's a full report featuring the original timings from the Guardian.
| QUOTE |
| Friday July 8, 2005 The Guardian Aldgate, 8.51am Circle line, Liverpool Street - Aldgate. The London transport system was coping with the peak of the morning rush hour when the coordinated terror attack the capital had feared became reality. As thousands of commuters poured into the City to start work, the first bomb ripped through the second carriage of a Circle line train 100 yards inside a tunnel between Liverpool Street and Aldgate stations. The blast sent a flash of flame down the outside of the train as the carriages reared up, flinging the 700 or so passengers on to the floor and filling the darkened carriages with smoke, grit and debris. "The first thing I knew I saw silver travelling through the air, which was glass, and a yellow flash," said Michael Henning, 39, a City worker from Kensington. "Then I was getting twisted and thrown down on the ground. The blast just twisted and turned me. I was in the next carriage but within 10ft of where the bomb went off. I feel extremely lucky." For a moment after the explosion, there was stunned silence inside the train. Then, as the realisation of what had happened began to sink in, the survivors started to fear the wreckage was about to be consumed in flames. "It was very dark all around us," Mr Henning said. "People panicked and were screaming and a few of us were telling them to calm down. The girls were the calmest and they got things under control quickly. We tried to open the side doors, we were trying to pull them. The London underground drivers were trying to get them open from the outside but they weren't moving. There was a lot of dust and smoke. There was no communication, no Tannoy, no feedback." Like many passengers in his carriage, Mr Henning had been injured by flying debris. He had glass in one eye and dozens of cuts and scratches over his face. Nevertheless, the sense of panic passed quickly and survivors concentrated their efforts on getting off the train. "We tried to open the doors but the doors were fixed shut and the ash was settling everywhere," said Loyita Worley, 49, who had also been travelling in the third carriage. As some passengers used their mobile phones to let loved ones know they were alive, some of the walking wounded were moving into less damaged carriages through connecting doors to get away from the smoke. "There was blood dripping off them, they were all white," Ms Worley said. Mustafa Kurtuldu, a 24-year-old graphic designer from Hackney, said: "A lot of them had cuts and blood was gushing out of their faces." Above ground, the rescue operation was already under way as the emergency services put their drills into practice. Aldgate and surrounding streets were sealed off minutes after the explosion, with ambulances arriving to carry the injured to nearby Royal London hospital in Whitechapel. The City of London was shut down as a 200-metre exclusion zone was set up around the Aldgate area. Escape Half an hour later and still trapped, the survivors decided to start moving towards the back of the train in the hope they could escape from there. "By the time we got to the back of the train we could see torches and people coming up the tracks to us," Mr Kurtuldu said. "I still just thought it was an electric problem because of the bright white light." It was only when they finally made it out on the tracks and were being led to safety that the survivors realised the scale of the carnage. "As they led us down the track past the carriage where the explosion was, we could see the roof was torn off it, and there were bodies on the track," Mr Kurtuldu said. Mr Henning said: "There was part of the side wall missing. Some of the seats were missing. People were still in their seats and they were screaming with pain and were covered in blood down one side of their body. There was other people that were trapped and they were just left there." Scott Wenbourne, another survivor, said: "I saw three bodies on the track. I couldn't look, it was so horrific. I think one was moving but I'm not too sure. "There were also, I think, some bodies in the carriage, some were moving but I couldn't really look. No one was attending to them." Derek Price, 55, from Essex, said he was surprised how calm the survivors were as they were led along the tracks past the wreckage. "Some people were upset but there wasn't panic, considering you could only see a few feet in front of your face." It took about 30 minutes for the survivors to make it to the surface. "People were coming out covered in black soot, blood and grease. There was people lying at the side of the station on plastic sheeting," said Kabin Chibber, 24, who works in the Dow Jones building above Aldgate station. Makeshift intensive care units were set up on the roadside to deal with the more seriously injured. Others were suffering from smoke inhalation, cuts and burns. Among the walking wounded was Jack Linton, 14, who suffered cuts to his face. The schoolboy, from Hawkwell, Essex, was on his way to a work experience placement when he was caught in the blast. "I've got glass in my hair and my pockets, and my ear hurts," he said. Gareth Davies, medical director of London Air Ambulance, was at Aldgate by 9.10am. "Initially the scene was quite overwhelming, it would shock anyone walking into that sort of area. But there was a quiet efficiency. People were very quiet and cracking on with their jobs." Police at first believed two people had died in the Aldgate attack. But by mid-afternoon, as forensic officers began combing the wreckage, the death toll had risen to seven, with scores more injured. King's Cross, 8.56am One regular commuter on the packed Piccadilly line tube train said they instinctively knew a bomb had gone off when the train drew slowly to a halt after a blinding flash and loud bang. The blast hit the train about three minutes south of King's Cross station. Survivors were led out of both ends of the tunnel - to the station the train had just left and Russell Square, the next on the line. Police later confirmed that 21 people had been killed and hundreds injured. One woman caught up in the incident at Russell Square said: "Some people were able to carry other people who were much more badly injured than them. There were a lot of people with terrible burns. People were starting to get very dehydrated and very unwell. When the emergency services got there they had to carry people in blankets who had lost limbs." The survivors emerging at Russell Square were greeted by further scenes of panic caused by the aftermath of another bomb attack on a double-decker bus at nearby Tavistock Square. Jo Herbert, in an email to Guardian Unlimited, wrote: "I was stuck in a smoke-filled, blackened tube that reeked of burning for over 30 minutes. So many people were hysterical. I truly thought I was going to die and was just hoping it would be from smoke inhalation and not fire. I felt genuine fear but kept calm (and quite proud of myself for that). "Eventually people smashed through the windows and we were lifted out, all walked up the tunnel to the station. There was chaos outside and I started to walk down Euston Road (my face and clothes were black) towards work and all of a sudden there was another huge bang and people started running up the road in the opposite direction to where I was walking and screaming and crying. "I now realise this must have been the bus exploding." Barry Kent was waiting anxiously on the edge of Russell Square behind the police cordons for his stepdaughter Noam Rave, 18, who was on a train being evacuated at the station. He had managed to speak to her only briefly. She told him there had been "a big bang and that they had evacuated the train, took them up to the station and kept them at the station and wouldn't let them out". He had started communicating to her by text message at 10.32am. He managed to speak to her around this time, when he said she was "distraught and crying". At 10.34am his text messages show that she was inside Russell Square station. At 10.38am she was inside the hotel, then there was a gap before he heard from her again. At 11.27am she told him that she was "in Holiday Inn". One survivor, Fiona Trueman, 26, was on the train a few minutes south of King's Cross when the explosion happened. Speaking outside the Royal London hospital, Whitechapel, Ms Trueman, who works in marketing for Sky News, said: "It was just horrendous; it was like a disaster movie. You can't imagine being somewhere like that - you just want to get out. I kept closing my eyes and thinking of outside. It was frightening because all the lights had gone out and we didn't hear anything from the driver, so we wondered how he was." Tom Curry, 28, who works for internet service provider Bulldog, was on the Piccadilly line train. "We were coming out of King's Cross and there was a really big bang, a big, bright flash of light and loads of black smoke started to pour into the carriage," he said. "Immediately, loads of black smoke was everywhere. I think it was soot from the inside of the tunnels. It was acrid and really hard to breathe." John Sandy, in an email to Guardian Unlimited, said there was an eerie calm on the train. "As people started to panic, I turned to the man on my right and asked his name. He said he was Mark and he worked in HR. Then I asked the same of the girl on my left. Her name was Emma and she too worked in HR. Mark and Emma then began to talk to each other and we started to reassure the other passengers around us that everything would be OK," he said. "We left the train within around half an hour. I feel very lucky. The emergency services got everyone they could out in a calm and safe way but I would like to praise Mark and Emma for being so level-headed." "People were trying to pass messages up and down the train. It was like Chinese whispers," said Mr Curry. After 40 minutes, the fire brigade and London Underground staff arrived. Unable to open the doors of the train, they smashed windows and eventually opened the doors before leading passengers along the track in darkness to one of the two stations. A paramedic who witnessed the scene of devastation said one carriage of a tube train had been completely destroyed and two were badly damaged and left smouldering. Later in the afternoon, a priest was escorted into the King's Cross station complex by police. At nearby Great Ormond Street hospital - normally a children's hospital - beds were laid out in the reception and canteen to cope with the wounded from the blasts across London. The burger bar opposite the station was also converted into a makeshift first-aid room for the "walking wounded". From the Piccadilly line and Tavistock Square attacks, the walking wounded and those suffering from shock were being accommodated at various locations around King's Cross and Bloomsbury: Camden Town Hall, Birkbeck College, a Holiday Inn at Marchmont Street, and for a while even the local branch of Burger King. The premises were sealed off to reporters by police and council officials with some reports that the Holiday Inn was also being used as an emergency mortuary. Edgware Road, 9.17am The Circle line tube train was just pulling out of Edgware Road station towards Paddington when it was rocked by a huge blast that blew the maintenance covers from the floor of several carriages. In the next instant there was a second bang as a train coming from the other direction smashed into the wreckage, having being hit by the force of the blast. Police later said the explosion had ripped though the tube carriage, a wall and two other trains. "Our carriage filled with thick smoke and we were plunged into darkness," said Sara, 23, who was on her way to work at Wapping. "The next thing we heard was this unholy scream and this guy crying, 'Help me, help me, someone please help me.' It was pretty chilling." Sara, who did not wish to give her last name, said she had later heard the man had lost both his legs. Staff at nearby St Mary's hospital treated 36 people. A spokeswoman said seven had died, six were in a critical condition, 17 were seriously injured and three had minor injuries. Several others had been discharged. The injuries included cuts and bruises, head injuries, limb injuries and hearing loss. Police later confirmed that there had been five deaths. Travis Banko had just boarded the train and said the explosion had hit just 10 seconds after it pulled out of the station. "We were heading towards Kensington High Street," said the 24-year-old Australian insurance worker, whose face was speckled with blood. "It wasn't very full but then there was a massive explosion." Mr Banko said he had been in the first carriage, in front of the one in which the explosion took place. "It blew out the side of the train. It was dark. Everyone was screaming. When the smoke cleared the second carriage was ripped apart like it had been done with a can opener." Other witnesses also reported a huge hole being torn in the floor of the carriage, and said one of the men who died appeared to have fallen through the gap. In the first carriage, people were "screaming and crying" but Mr Banko said that after an initial period of panic people had realised they were OK and started to help those who were injured. Anita Kinselley, 29, from Essex, her face blackened by smoke, was somewhere towards the middle of the train when the explosion occurred. "The tiles on the floor of my carriage suddenly shot up. The next thing I knew there was an almighty crash and the train filled with smoke. I looked across and saw people in the train opposite us pounding on the windows and shouting 'let us out, let us out'. People were screaming for help." Simon Tonkyn, a 51-year-old IT manager, was on his way from Paddington to Aldgate when the blast occurred. "There was just an enormous bang and a lot of smoke," said Mr Tonkyn, who together with fellow passengers used fire extinguishers to smash through his carriage door and escape. Ms Kinselley was not sure how long she and the other passengers waited in the dark - maybe 10 minutes, maybe more. Eventually, however, underground staff arrived on the scene and began evacuating passengers from the back of the train and along the rails. Tony Dodd, 39, who works for Metronet, was one of those who went to help. "It was pretty awful down there," he said. "There were bodies and people were very badly burned." They were taken first to a Marks & Spencer store but, by 10am, as more casualties arrived and the scale of the terrorist attacks became clearer, they were evacuated to safety to the Hilton Metro pole hotel on the opposite side of Edgware Road. Shopping trolleys filled with medical supplies were in the lobby. There, hotel staff and emergency medical teams provided aid to the wounded as best they could. Several were still bleeding from cuts and burns to their heads. Some had glass fragments lodged in their hair, their faces blackened by smoke. Others had blood on their faces. One woman's head was swathed in bandages. Some were crying. One man, wearing a dressing gown taken from the store, followed the paramedics. Earlier a priest was escorted into the Hilton to comfort those traumatised. One of the most seriously injured, a woman who gave her name as Davinia, was seated in the lobby, her head and neck bound in bandages. Like many of those being tended to by the triage teams she was too traumatised to speak. But it later emerged she had been near the front of the train when the blast hit. One survivor who spoke to her said: "All she could remember was a fireball coming towards her. She said it felt as if she had hit a wall." Sean Baran, a 20-year-old US business student at the University of Virginia who had trained as a rescue worker in the US after 9/11, was one of those who helped the injured after getting off a bus near the station. "There were maybe 60 people taken into the hotel, which became a command post for the treatment of those not so seriously hurt," he said. "Doctors and nurses came in. We did triage on the injured. Most of the problems were excessive smoke inhalation and lacerations to the face. "One gentleman told me the floor of the train had blown up. Another man said someone had been blown out of the train and been hit by another train going the other way." Dozens of fire engines and police vans lined Edgware Road. At least 50 firefighters, 30 ambulance crews and just as many underground first-aid workers surrounded the scene. Bystanders gathered around a car radio, anxiously seeking news of the blast. Sniffer dogs appeared, checking traffic bollards and cars for concealed explosive. As it became clear that the blast was not an isolated incident, those involved frantically tried to reach loved ones but, as elsewhere, were unable to get through. Tavistock Square, 9.47am Diverted from his usual route along Euston Road, the driver of the Number 30 from Hackney to Marble Arch was struggling to navigate his way through the rush-hour traffic and the unfamiliar streets of Bloomsbury. When he reached the corner of Upper Woburn Place and Tavistock Square, he decided to get help, and pulled over the double-decker to ask two Camden council parking attendants for directions. As he beckoned them over, the bomb detonated. "The next thing I knew there was a loud explosion and the top of the bus had been ripped off," Adesoji Adesi, one of the attendants told the Guardian. According to eyewitnesses and police, the device appears to have been placed somewhere near the back of the bus's top deck. Raj Mattoo, 35, who works at the charity Scope, said: "As I looked at the bus I saw it explode. The explosion was at the back. It ripped off the roof which was thrown 10 metres in the air. I shouted to the rest of the passengers to get off the bus. I saw the parking attendants. I ended up with blood on my hands." "There was what seemed like a muffled bang and a huge plume of smoke," said Neil Courtis, 34, a financial journalist. "I went towards the blast and saw a woman with her left leg blown off. She looked in a bad way. "I could smell cordite. The bus looked as if someone had peeled off the roof and there seemed to be bits of people around that had been blown through the windows." But Mr Courtis said the scene was strangely calm. "The pavements were filled with pedestrians but there was no panic and no screaming. People were calling for anyone who knew first aid." Last night, there were persistent claims that the attack was the work of a suicide bomber; some witnesses said they saw a man on the top deck acting strangely and rummaging around in his backpack immediately before the blast. Police said they were unable to confirm or deny these claims. They also said they were unable to confirm how many people were killed or injured. According to eyewitnesses, some people who had been evacuated from Russell Square tube station had boarded the bus just before it too was attacked. The explosion happened 30 minutes after the attack on the Piccadilly line underground train around the corner at Russell Square and the streets were busy with stranded commuters as well as tourists staying in the dozens of hotels in the area. One of them, the Tavistock, was turned into an emergency receiving centre to deal with the injured, who had congregated in the gated grass area of the square after the blast. Streaked in blood Among them was the other Camden traffic warden, Pedro Da-Sliver who had been carried there by his colleague. He appeared to have suffered a serious leg injury and was lying on his side in the bar area receiving treatment from paramedics. They were also joined by doctors who had rushed to help from their offices in the British Medical Association building on the square. Such was the force of the explosion and the terrible human damage, it left the walls and windows of the building streaked in blood. Ann Sommerville, head of the ethics department at the BMA, was just arriving at work when the bus blew up."Once it exploded you could hear cries of terror. You could smell a gunpowder, cordite kind of smell. There was stuff flying through the air but it didn't seem to come in big chunks." Inside the Tavistock, the hotel receptionist Sam Elliott explained that a "couple of hundred" had been in the park that morning, both tourists and business people on their way to work. Mr Elliott said four injured had been brought into the hotel. One with a head wound, one who was carried in off the street and two others who had "hearing impairment". He said he had seen smoke but didn't see the bus. Simon Poluck, a 37-year-old partner at accounting firm BSG Valentine, said he was on the far side of Lynton House, which also faces on to the square. "It was a bonfire sort of smell. Some of the girls were crying and were really upset; they were just coming into work at the time. Everyone just wants to get away from the area." His colleague David Lee, also a partner at the firm, added: "I was at my desk when I heard the bomb and got a terrible whiff of cordite. Instead of going into the basement, I turned right and saw bodies being taken into our office. "There were people coming up to me, pleading for help, and I didn't know what to do. I saw injured people being brought in and people wandering around with their clothes torn. It was horrific, gruesome. Their clothes were torn and hanging off," said Mr Lee, who put the time of the blast at around 9.50am. Hotel guest Melissa Macauley, from California, told the Guardian that she had thought there had been an earthquake. Robert O'Sullivan, chef at the Tavistock hotel, described how he was preparing for the day in the kitchen at the time of the explosion. "There was a loud bang and then there was a stampede down the street. It was like a bull run. If the bus had gone past two seconds later then I might be dead. I am still shaking." Christine Feeny, who was staying at the Tavistock Hotel, said she was having breakfast when she heard a loud bang that shook the hotel. "We were just about to get on board a sightseeing bus on Tavistock Square. Had we left 10 minutes or so earlier it could have been us on that bus. That's a very uncomfortable feeling." Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/...1523850,00.html |
Bridget - January 23, 2006 12:33 AM (GMT)
It is worth posting this in it's entirety as it is almost the script followed by the Metropolitan Police
Jerusalem Post 7/7/05
Ex-Mossad Chief Calls For World War After London Attack
Rules of conflict for a world war
By Efraim Halevi
07/07/05 "The Jerusalem Post" - - The multiple, simultaneous explosions that took place today on the London transportation system were the work of perpetrators who had an operational capacity of considerable scope. They have come a long way since the two attacks of the year 1998 against the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar-Es-Salaam, and the aircraft actions of September 11, 2001.
There was careful planning, intelligence gathering, and a sophisticated choice of timing as well as near-perfect execution. We are faced with a deadly and determined adversary who will stop at nothing and will persevere as long as he exists as a fighting terrorist force.
One historical irony: I doubt whether the planners knew that one of the target areas, that in Russell Square, was within a stone's throw of a building that served as the first headquarters of the World Zionist Organization that preceded the State of Israel.
It was at 77 Great Russell Street that Dr. Chaim Weizmann, a renowned chemist, presided over the effort that culminated in the issuing of the Balfour Declaration, the first international recognition of the right of the Jewish people to a national home in what was then still a part of the Ottoman Empire.
We are in the throes of a world war, raging over the entire globe and characterized by the absence of lines of conflict and an easily identifiable enemy. There are sometimes long pauses between one attack and another, consequently creating the wrong impression that the battle is all over, or at least in the process of being won.
Generally speaking, the populations at large are not involved in the conflict, and by and large play the role of bystanders. But once in a while, these innocents are caught up in the maelstrom and suffer the most cruel and wicked of punishments meted out by those who are not bound by any rules of conduct or any norms of structured society. For a while, too short a while, we are engrossed with the sheer horror of what we see and hear, but, with the passage of time, our memories fade and we return to our daily lives, forgetting that the war is still raging out there and more strikes are sure to follow.
It cannot be said that seven years after this war broke out in east Africa, we can see its conclusion. We are in for the long haul and we must brace ourselves for more that will follow. The 'Great Wars' of the 20th century lasted less than this war has already lasted, and the end is nowhere in sight.
There will be supreme tests of leadership in this unique situation and people will have to trust the wisdom and good judgment of those chosen to govern them. The executives must be empowered to act resolutely and to take every measure necessary to protect the citizens of their country and to carry the combat into whatever territory the perpetrators and their temporal and spiritual leaders are inhabiting.
The rules of combat must be rapidly adjusted to cater to the necessities of this new and unprecedented situation, and international law must be rewritten in such a way as to permit civilization to defend itself. Anything short of this invites disaster and must not be allowed to happen.
The aim of the enemy is not to defeat western civilization but to destroy its sources of power and existence, and to render it a relic of the past. It does not seek a territorial victory or a regime change; it wants to turn western civilization into history and will stop at nothing less than that.
It will show no mercy or compassion and no appreciation for these noble values when practiced by us. This does not mean that we can or should assume the norms of our adversaries, nor that we should act indiscriminately. It does mean that the only way to ensure our safety and security will be to obtain the destruction, the complete destruction, of the enemy.
MUCH HAS been said in recent years about the vital need for international cooperation. There is no doubt that this is essential. Yet no measure of this will suffice and it cannot replace the requirement that each and every country effectively declare itself at war with international Islamist terror and recruit the public to involve itself actively in the battle, under the direction of the legal powers that be.
In the past, governments have been expected to provide security to their citizens. The responsibility is still there, in principle. But in practice, no government today can provide an effective 'suit of protection' for the ordinary citizen. There can be no protection for every bus, every train, every street, every square. In these times the ordinary citizen must be vigilant and must make his personal contribution to the war effort. Private enterprise will have to supplement the national effort in many walks of life.
The measures that I have outlined above will not be easily adopted
overnight. When the US entered World War Two, Congress approved the momentous decision by a majority of one vote. Profound cultural changes will have to come about and the democratic way of life will be hard-pressed to produce solutions that will enable the executive branch to perform its duties and, at the same time, to preserve the basic tenets of our democratic way of life. It will not be easy, but it will be essential not to lose sight of every one of these necessities.
This war is already one of the longest in modern times; as things appear now, it is destined to be part of our daily lives for many years to come, until the enemy is eliminated, as it surely will be.
The writer, who heads the Center for Strategic and Policy Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, is a former head of the Mossad.
Copyright 1995-2005 The Jerusalem Post
Jerusalem Post 7/7/05
Ex-Mossad Chief Calls For World War After London Attack
Rules of conflict for a world war
By Efraim Halevi
07/07/05 "The Jerusalem Post" - - The multiple, simultaneous explosions that took place today on the London transportation system were the work of perpetrators who had an operational capacity of considerable scope. They have come a long way since the two attacks of the year 1998 against the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar-Es-Salaam, and the aircraft actions of September 11, 2001.
There was careful planning, intelligence gathering, and a sophisticated choice of timing as well as near-perfect execution. We are faced with a deadly and determined adversary who will stop at nothing and will persevere as long as he exists as a fighting terrorist force.
One historical irony: I doubt whether the planners knew that one of the target areas, that in Russell Square, was within a stone's throw of a building that served as the first headquarters of the World Zionist Organization that preceded the State of Israel.
It was at 77 Great Russell Street that Dr. Chaim Weizmann, a renowned chemist, presided over the effort that culminated in the issuing of the Balfour Declaration, the first international recognition of the right of the Jewish people to a national home in what was then still a part of the Ottoman Empire.
We are in the throes of a world war, raging over the entire globe and characterized by the absence of lines of conflict and an easily identifiable enemy. There are sometimes long pauses between one attack and another, consequently creating the wrong impression that the battle is all over, or at least in the process of being won.
Generally speaking, the populations at large are not involved in the conflict, and by and large play the role of bystanders. But once in a while, these innocents are caught up in the maelstrom and suffer the most cruel and wicked of punishments meted out by those who are not bound by any rules of conduct or any norms of structured society. For a while, too short a while, we are engrossed with the sheer horror of what we see and hear, but, with the passage of time, our memories fade and we return to our daily lives, forgetting that the war is still raging out there and more strikes are sure to follow.
It cannot be said that seven years after this war broke out in east Africa, we can see its conclusion. We are in for the long haul and we must brace ourselves for more that will follow. The 'Great Wars' of the 20th century lasted less than this war has already lasted, and the end is nowhere in sight.
There will be supreme tests of leadership in this unique situation and people will have to trust the wisdom and good judgment of those chosen to govern them. The executives must be empowered to act resolutely and to take every measure necessary to protect the citizens of their country and to carry the combat into whatever territory the perpetrators and their temporal and spiritual leaders are inhabiting.
The rules of combat must be rapidly adjusted to cater to the necessities of this new and unprecedented situation, and international law must be rewritten in such a way as to permit civilization to defend itself. Anything short of this invites disaster and must not be allowed to happen.
The aim of the enemy is not to defeat western civilization but to destroy its sources of power and existence, and to render it a relic of the past. It does not seek a territorial victory or a regime change; it wants to turn western civilization into history and will stop at nothing less than that.
It will show no mercy or compassion and no appreciation for these noble values when practiced by us. This does not mean that we can or should assume the norms of our adversaries, nor that we should act indiscriminately. It does mean that the only way to ensure our safety and security will be to obtain the destruction, the complete destruction, of the enemy.
MUCH HAS been said in recent years about the vital need for international cooperation. There is no doubt that this is essential. Yet no measure of this will suffice and it cannot replace the requirement that each and every country effectively declare itself at war with international Islamist terror and recruit the public to involve itself actively in the battle, under the direction of the legal powers that be.
In the past, governments have been expected to provide security to their citizens. The responsibility is still there, in principle. But in practice, no government today can provide an effective 'suit of protection' for the ordinary citizen. There can be no protection for every bus, every train, every street, every square. In these times the ordinary citizen must be vigilant and must make his personal contribution to the war effort. Private enterprise will have to supplement the national effort in many walks of life.
The measures that I have outlined above will not be easily adopted
overnight. When the US entered World War Two, Congress approved the momentous decision by a majority of one vote. Profound cultural changes will have to come about and the democratic way of life will be hard-pressed to produce solutions that will enable the executive branch to perform its duties and, at the same time, to preserve the basic tenets of our democratic way of life. It will not be easy, but it will be essential not to lose sight of every one of these necessities.
This war is already one of the longest in modern times; as things appear now, it is destined to be part of our daily lives for many years to come, until the enemy is eliminated, as it surely will be.
The writer, who heads the Center for Strategic and Policy Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, is a former head of the Mossad.
Copyright 1995-2005 The Jerusalem Post
numeral - January 23, 2006 01:06 AM (GMT)
Wiki news is quoted above as saying:
"London Underground declared a 'code Amber' within minutes, moving trains to platforms and opening all doors. A 'code Red' - full evacuation - was set at around 9.15am. O'Toole described the decision to evacuate as being "very grave, not taken lightly". When questioned as to whether everything possible had been done on the day to save lives, the managing director of Transport for London was "very proud" of the choices made that morning"
This is wrong, A code Red was never called. Code Amber was called around 0915.
"London Underground declared a 'code Amber' within minutes, moving trains to platforms and opening all doors. A 'code Red' - full evacuation - was set at around 9.15am. O'Toole described the decision to evacuate as being "very grave, not taken lightly". When questioned as to whether everything possible had been done on the day to save lives, the managing director of Transport for London was "very proud" of the choices made that morning"
This is wrong, A code Red was never called. Code Amber was called around 0915.
The Antagonist - January 23, 2006 02:36 AM (GMT)
More from Tim O'Toole about the subject of the Code Amber:
| QUOTE | ||
| Underground chief reveals chain of events after the bombs went off in London on Thursday 7 July
‘At 0915 we declared a Code Amber for the rest of the network: beginning a controlled evacuation. Over the next hour we moved over 200 000 people off the network without a single injury, confining the damage to the three sites. ‘There is a complete misunderstanding by some members of the media as to the significance and timing of calling a Code Amber – Code Amber is completely irrelevant to rushing assistance to the three sites. ‘Calling a Code Amber had relevance to all the other trains on the network – it was completely irrelevant to dealing with sites where there had been blasts. It was not a decision you reach lightly. If we called a Code Amber every time we had a dramatic incident on this old network, which needs to be rebuilt as we all know too well, we would be throwing people out on the streets on a weekly basis. Plus when you do it, it is a very difficult thing to do – to move that many people without injury, if you look at any study that the military conducts over the likelihood of injury when you move that many people; you can see that this is a decision you only take when you know you are confronting a very difficult situation. Source: Railway Manager Online, Monday 18 July |
Tim O'Toole goes on to explain the particular relevance of one of the incidents that day:
| QUOTE |
| ‘Following initial reports, we had one team concentrating on getting emergency resources to the sites and getting further reports, and we split another part of management to think about what we would be doing later, four hours and 24 hours later, because at that time of course, shortly after the bomb exploded on the bus we knew we were dealing with crime scenes. Source: Railway Manager Online, Monday 18 July |
According to Tim O'Toole, it wasn't until 'shortly after the bomb exploded on the bus' that they 'knew [they] were dealing with crime scenes'. Given that the bus blast is is said to have occurred at 0947 in both versions of the story released - almost an hour after the explosions on the underground by which time all incident scenes had been attended by staff and emergency services - how could it possibly be that Tim O'Toole did not know until after the bus explosion that the underground incidents had suddenly become crime scenes?
numeral - February 26, 2006 06:22 PM (GMT)
New non-simultaneous timings
Without any explanation the times have changed again.
Richard Barnes (Chair): Thank you all very much indeed. We will move into questions
now. The timelines have indicated that the bombs went off at 8.50am at Liverpool
Street, 8.51am at Edgware Road, and 8.53am at King’s Cross.
141442 GLA
Without any explanation the times have changed again.
Richard Barnes (Chair): Thank you all very much indeed. We will move into questions
now. The timelines have indicated that the bombs went off at 8.50am at Liverpool
Street, 8.51am at Edgware Road, and 8.53am at King’s Cross.
141442 GLA
numeral - February 26, 2006 08:40 PM (GMT)
post deleted.
The Antagonist - February 27, 2006 02:30 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE (numeral @ Feb 26 2006, 08:40 PM) |
| post deleted. |
Any MI5 involvement in that?
This is the Telegraph's version of the London Underground NCC log of the morning with information about the times at which things were known and what was initially reported:
| QUOTE |
| 8.50am: First indications received by LU's Network Control Centre (NCC) of a problem on the network suggested a power supply problem affecting a large area as stations were reporting that some escalators had stopped and other station equipment was no longer working. The NCC immediately treated this as a power supply issue and took actions to resolve the issue. At this stage the NCC believed that the problem could be resolved and power would be restored by 9:15am. What we now know is that the power surge occurred as a direct result of explosions knocking the power supply out at the three incident sites. 8.51: The Central line called the NCC inquiring about a possible large noise or explosion on board a train at Liverpool Street. The first call to the Metropolitan Police indicated they were being asked to attend a person under a train incident caused by the derailment. 8.52: The Metropolitan line confirmed that an explosion had taken place. The NCC believed this to be directly related to the ongoing power supply issue. Loud noises or explosions often accompany a power supply rupture. 8.53: London Underground commenced Gold Control (command and control person in charge of a serious incident on the Underground). 8.59: The NCC received a report indicating that a train departing Edgware Road station had hit the tunnel wall. Further information came in quickly, including smoke and reports of passengers leaving trains and walking down the tunnel towards the nearest station, Edgware Road. Line managers immediately called the emergency services believing this to be a derailment. 9.01: The Metropolitan line reported that a person may be under a train at Liverpool Street. This was the third issue that the NCC was now dealing with within a space of 11 minutes. 9.03: The Piccadilly line duty operations manager received reports of passengers running from King's Cross. 9.05: The NCC advised of walking wounded at Edgware Road. 9.09: An engineer reported losing a high-tension power cable between Mansell Street and Moorgate. 9.10: The Piccadilly line duty operations manager reported to the NCC a request for ambulances. 9.11: The Piccadilly line duty operations manager reported loss of traction in Russell Square, both east and westbound, and that a loud bang had been heard at Russell Square westbound, with staff already investigating. 9.15: It was clear that the series of events occurring across the network were directly related to multiple explosions and a Code Amber alert was declared which means trains are brought into stations and told to stay there until further notice. LU staff began clearing large numbers of passengers from trains and stations. 9.17: Metropolitan Police received a call specifically stating than an explosion had occurred at Edgware Road. Source: The Telegraph |
It seems odd that such specific and - relative to a suicide bomb attack - fairly minor incidents such as a person under a train and a train hitting a tunnel wall would be reported instead of what one might think would be more far more visible and audible evidence of explosions.
Why would the MPS be called to the scene of a person under a train at Liverpool Street if a large explosion is what caused them to end up there?
The Antagonist - February 28, 2006 12:44 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| TWO-MINUTE SILENCE FOR LONDON BOMB VICTIMS 11 Jul 2005 12 July 2005 A TWO-MINUTE silence will be staged at noon on Thursday (14 July) to remember the victims of the bomb attacks on three London Underground trains and a bus. It will also include a silence across the transport network, said London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Tessa Jowell, secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport. Ms Jowell has been put in charge of government support for the families of victims of the London bombings and is working closely with the Metropolitan Police, the Mayors office and voluntary agencies as part of her role. The development comes as police recently confirmed the blasts on July 7 happened within seconds of each other at about 8.50am. They also suspect the bombs were detonated by timers rather than suicide bombers. The Aldgate explosion happened first followed within seconds by the blasts at Edgware Road and Russell Square. Passengers who leave suitcases and other packages unattended on public transport may face police. Andy Trotter, the Deputy Chief Constable of British Transport Police, which is heavily involved in dealing with the aftermath of the bombings, said it was "intolerable" that people were continuing to carelessly leave their bags unguarded, sparking bomb scares. It is now known that at least 49 people have been killed in Thursday morning's attacks and more than 700 were injured. 65 people remain in hospital. Source: Rail News |
I knew there was a reason Tessa Jowell suddenly appeared in the news again. Hatchet job's a plenty.....
The Antagonist - February 28, 2006 01:00 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| THREE LONDON UNDERGROUND EXPLOSIONS WERE SIMULTANEOUS 10 Jul 2005 10 July 2005 TRANSPORT in London has returned to some degree of normality following last Thursday's bombing of three Underground lines, and the blowing up of a bus. Police now say that "more than 50 people" were killed and that the three explosions on Underground trains occurred within seconds of each other at 08.50. On the Underground there is no Circle and Hammersmith & City services, and the Piccadilly Line remains closed through Central London — although services are running from Hyde Park Corner to Heathrow Airport. The Piccadilly Line is closed between Arnos Grove and Hyde Park Corner. Police say there are still bodies in the Piccadilly Line train between King's Cross and Russell Square, and the death toll will now be "more than 50." Later, the police said 13 people were killed in the bomb explosion on a bus near Tavistock Square. The explosion occurred 57 minutes after the three Underground train bombs went off. Removal of bodies in the Picadilly Line train is being hampered because the structure of the tunnel is unsafe, temperatures are in excess of 40 C, and the tunnel is infested with vermin. The bomb was in a doorway of the leading car of the train, said police. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said that people injured in the attacks came not only from London but also Sierra Leone, Australia, Portugal, Poland and China. The siuation on London Undergroundon is:- Circle Line: No service. Hammersmith & City Line: A service will operate between Hammersmith and Paddington only. Metropolitan Line: No service between Moorgate and Aldgate. Piccadilly Line: There are no services calling at Gloucester Road. No services between Hyde Park Corner and Arnos Grove. A special bus service is running from Arnos Grove to Finchley Central to connect with the Northern Line. District Line :No service between High Street Kensington and Edgware Road. Kings Cross Underground Station is open for Metropolitan Line services only. Transport for London says many extra buses are operating to replace the suspended Underground services. You can get full details of the mainline services currently operating by pasting the following link into your web browser — http://nrekb.com/london/underground.html Source: Rail News |
numeral - July 2, 2006 12:37 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| At 8.51am a year ago on Friday a bomb exploded on a London Underground train near Aldgate. In less than a minute, a second device detonated at Edgware Road. Fifty seconds later a third bomb deep in a Tube tunnel near Russell Square blew off Gill Hicks's legs. |
| QUOTE |
| 8.49am Lindsay gets onto Piccadilly Line train number 311 travelling towards the West End and stands by rear doors in the front carriage. The train is described as 'extraordinarily full'. More than 900 passengers are crammed on board. Hussain, meanwhile, waits for a Northern Line service towards Camden. ... 8.53am Lindsay's delayed train leaves King's Cross three minutes after the bombers' agreed deadline for simultaneous detonation. Train 311 has travelled just 261m towards Russell Square when Lindsay detonates his pack 20m below the district of St Pancras. Again, passengers hear a violent bang. For the third time in a matter of minutes, pitch blackness descended on a packed crowd of tube passengers. |
| QUOTE |
| London's hour of darkness, one year on Survivors, emergency workers and those who lost loved ones remember the morning last July when suicide bombers brought terror to the capital Mark Honigsbaum Thursday July 6, 2006 The Guardian · 8.30am Four minutes after arriving at King's Cross on a Thameslink train from Luton, the four bombers - Shehzad Tanweer, Mohammad Sidique Khan, Hasib Hussain and Germaine Lindsay - are captured on CCTV. According to the official Home Office narrative, the quartet are seen "hugging" and "appear happy, even euphoric". After splitting up, they head in the direction of the underground. · 8.40am As the bombers were preparing to board the tube, John Falding and his girlfriend Anat Rosenberg were having breakfast at their flat in Marylebone, near Baker Street in central London. Ms Rosenberg, 39, was often late for work and that morning was no exception. She was supposed to be at her desk at a children's charity in Highbury, north London, by 9.30am - a commute which normally took her 45 minutes. But she took longer than usual over breakfast, lingering for a chat with her boyfriend and sharing a cuddle. It cost her her life. "That's all it was, a cuddle, and it made her late," says Mr Falding. "If we hadn't done that she would have lived." · 8.50am Liz Kenworthy was also running late. A 45-year-old police officer based in Haringey, north London, she had been on her way to a conference in Westminster. But before leaving her home in Nazeing, Essex, to catch a fast train to Liverpool Street, she had stopped to chat with her daughter about the Olympics. News of London's winning bid had been announced the day before. "My daughter was really excited about the thought of the rafting and canoeing events coming to Broxbourne. As I reached the footbridge I saw my train coming and thought, shall I run? No, I'll leave it." Ms Kenworthy missed her train and did not arrive at Liverpool Street until 8.42am. By the time she had walked downstairs to the tube and boarded an eastbound Circle line train it was 8.45am. She got on somewhere towards the middle of the train and was straphanging, her bag between her feet. Tanweer was in the second carriage from the front, his black rucksack packed like those of the other bombers with 2-5 kilograms of high explosive. At 8.50 he detonated it. "I didn't think bomb, I thought derailment. People were shouting, 'We need doctors and nurses,' so I got my ID card out and said, 'I'm a police officer, let me through'." The next carriage was very dirty and dusty but the passengers, though dazed, were still walking. It was when she reached the second carriage from the front that she realised what had happened. "If it had been an accident the carriage would have been compressed. The carriage wasn't compressed, it had been disembowelled." Squeezing through the twisted wreckage, she was confronted by a woman who she later came to know as Martine Wright. "She was in a rather bizarre position," recalls Ms Kenworthy. "Her leg had been blown apart from her foot." Opposite Ms Wright, sitting upright in the position he had been travelling, was a man who had also lost a leg and, on the floor, a woman whose arm was trapped beneath mangled metal. "She was screaming blue murder but I couldn't move the metal because it was too heavy. Instead, I took off my jacket and used it to make a tourniquet for the man with the severed leg. He was very stoical. He said, 'I've lost my leg, haven't I?' and I said 'Yes, but you'll live'." For the next 30 minutes Ms Kenworthy battled to keep the man and the two women alive, sending other passengers to fetch more ties and T-shirts with which to make further tourniquets. "I could see other people at the back of the carriage but I couldn't tell whether they were alive or not. I looked at the three people I was with and thought, these people need me now and if I don't do something now, they may die." For seven days afterwards she did not know whether any of the people she had helped had survived. After police and paramedics arrived she staggered from the station in a daze before being taken in by some office workers in Bishopsgate. It was only when she returned to Aldgate the following Thursday for a remembrance service that she discovered the man was in hospital and had been asking for her. She found out that Martine Wright was also alive, although surgeons had amputated both her legs. She quickly struck up a friendship with the man and his wife and although he does not wish to be identified they have been friends ever since. "Until you're tested in a situation you don't know how you're going to react," says Ms Kenworthy. "I was really lucky I wasn't hurt. I was just the right person in the right place at the right time." She says she still feels guilty. She wishes she could have done more. · 8.51am As Ms Kenworthy's train was approaching Aldgate, Jeff Porter, 47, a driver on another Circle line train, was also travelling east. He was looking forward to coming off his shift. A driver with 20 years experience, Mr Porter had clocked on at 5.40am and had already been twice round the Circle line when he began his approach to Edgware Road. On an adjacent track was another train heading towards him. Khan was on it. From his driver's cabin Mr Porter had a perfect view. "It wasn't so much a bright white flash as a glowing orange ball. I didn't recall any noise at first but a few weeks later I remembered hearing a sound like rushing wind and then the noise of a junkyard being dumped on the track in front of me. That was the debris from the other train." Instinctively he applied the emergency brake. It was only afterwards that he realised just how lucky he had been: a second or two later and he would have been level with the bomb carriage. He jumped onto the platform at Edgware Road to get help before returning to his train to usher dazed passengers from the wreckage. On mobile phone footage he can be seen passing through the carriages telling people to "stay calm" - an act that would see Time magazine hail him one of their European heroes of 2005. "The amount of smoke and dust was incredible," he says. "Looking into the bomb carriage I could see there were no seats, doors of windows - just a big hole in the floor. "One man came up to me and said 'I suffer from panic attacks.' I told him, 'It's probably not a good day for that, sir.' " But his main memory of that morning is how "unpanicked" most people were. He believes he blanked out the worst of what he saw that morning. He still works for London Underground. "I drive by the spot six or seven times every day so I'm always saying to myself, This is where it was, this is where it happened. There's probably a couple of minutes there that my brain will never be able to make sense of." · 8.53am Within two minutes of the second blast came the third at Russell Square, a few miles away. Mohammed Mulak, the duty station manager, did not hear a thing. The first he knew of it was when his supervisor said there had been a power failure and the lifts were not working. With the help of colleagues he restored power to the shaft and rushed downstairs. Within minutes passengers covered in soot and smoke began staggering from the tunnel, but his main memory of that morning is how long it took the emergency services to arrive - and the smell of burned flesh. "Sometimes I think I can still smell it when I'm sitting in my control room," says Mr Mulak. "One person who came up didn't have a leg. There were arm injuries, facial injuries. Our ticket hall looked like a war zone." Like many of his colleagues Mr Mulak, who is 52, returned to work the very next day. But at a flower-laying ceremony three days later for the 27 people who had been killed on the Piccadilly line his emotions got the better of him and he broke down. He took four weeks off, returning to work at the end of August when the station reopened. · 9.03am Craig Cassidy, 37, a mobile paramedic based in Poplar, east London, does not recall seeing Liz Kenworthy at Aldgate, although they must have crossed paths. He was on his way to a call at Liverpool Street when he came round the one way system at Aldgate and saw fire engines and passengers in front of the station. Mr Cassidy gathered his oxygen kit and defibrillator from the back of his car and headed into the station. "The train was around the curve. It was very dark. People were being led out of the tunnel ... I could see there had been an explosion by the damage to the train and the injuries." Eventually he reached the carriage where Tanweer had detonated his bomb and climbed in. Immediately to his left were two passengers with minor injuries but lying across them, pinning them in place, was a woman who had been stripped bare by the force of the explosion. "She was obviously dead. Another woman, who wasn't badly injured, had stayed behind and was holding her head up. Either she didn't realise she was dead or didn't want to accept it." To Mr Cassidy's right was Martine Wright, the woman Liz Kenworthy helped. "I'd dealt with amputated limbs in car crashes before but nothing on this scale. In this job you learn to put emotions to one side. I told myself, you can think about it later, Craig. Get on with what you've got to do." Mr Cassidy prioritised the passengers who needed the most urgent help and gradually moved them to the surface. With the help of colleagues, he saved six lives that day. "To me the whole thing felt like 20 minutes - in fact I think it was between an hour and an hour and a half." He says he does not dwell on what happened on 7/7 but it is with him every day. "I hope I won't come across anything like it again but I know it's more than likely. As everyone's constantly saying, it's not a case of if but when." · 9.35am Within half an hour of the blast at Edgware Road the first survivors began emerging from the station. Most of them gathered in Chapel Street, mingling with onlookers outside Marks & Spencer. There were only a few fire engines and the police were busy erecting a cordon. Paul Dadge, a 41-year-old reserve firefighter who had wandered over to Edgware Road after being bumped off his train at Baker Street following reports of a "power surge", decided to take the initiative. He persuaded staff at Marks and Spencer to allow the injured to shelter in the store. "The street corner was congested and it was becoming difficult to establish who was passing public and who was involved in the incident. I announced to those standing outside M&S that if they were involved in the incident they should make their way into the store and not leave until they had spoken to a police officer." Mr Dadge began recording people's names and injuries and prioritising those who needed the most urgent treatment. One of those he aided was Davinia Turrell. A 24-year-old corporate lawyer, Ms Turrell had been on her way to work in Paddington when she felt the blast and saw a "ball of fire" coming towards her. Inside M&S she was given a mask to cover her burns. The image of her being led across Edgware Road by Paul Dadge became a symbol of the suffering and bravery of Londoners that day. Since then he says people have tried to create a special bond between them - but the truth is Ms Turrell was just one of several passengers he helped. "If anyone had stopped me and said who are you, it would have been woah, but I was on autopilot and felt very confident about what I was doing. It wasn't until 12pm that someone came up to me in the Metropole hotel [where survivors had been moved from M&S] and said I understand you're in charge. That's when I went up to a policeman and explained what had happened. I've never regretted my decision for a moment." Mr Dadge says he would like to see an independent public inquiry into the emergency response and the failures of the intelligence services but doubts it will happen. Besides, he says, it's probably time to move on. "It's not so much about the bombs any more for me. It's about educating young Muslim kids who may have the same aims as beliefs as Khan and the other bombers - and making sure first aid is part of the national curriculum." · 9.47am By the time Anat Rosenberg had finished breakfast and said goodbye to John Falding, the three tube bombs had already exploded. She did not know about any of them and when she arrived at Baker Street she found the Underground severely disrupted. "Anat called me once from Baker Street and again from Euston Road," he says. "Then she called a third time to say she was on a bus." That bus was the number 30 to Hackney, which had been diverted from its normal route from Marble Arch and was travelling south along Woburn Place. "She was a bit worried about the crowds getting on and getting off, so I said try and find a seat near the door. 'Don't worry,' she said. 'I'm sitting near the door.' " According to Mr Falding, Ms Rosenberg - who had left Jerusalem several years earlier to escape the Palestinian intifada - never sat upstairs because she had a mortal fear of suicide bombers. "If the authorities had called it terrorism earlier I would have phoned her and told her to get off the bus," he says. "But the BBC were still reporting the power surge story." The fourth and final time she called was 9.46am. "She said the bus was being diverted through Tavistock Square but it wasn't a problem because it would still get her to work. Oh, she said, this should make something for your newsletter ... That was the last word she spoke. As soon as she said newsletter I heard this dreadful scream in the background. Then after a few seconds her phone went dead." She was killed by a bomb detonated by the fourth bomber, Hasib Hussain. The blast had ripped the top deck off the number 30, killing Hussain, Ms Rosenberg and 13 other passengers instantly. Unlike other people who lost loved ones that day, however, Mr Falding would not have to endure the agony of ringing round casualty departments and posting notices on lampposts. "The one consolation I've always had is that I was speaking to her as she died - and I know that she didn't suffer. Uniquely, I knew right away and I started my grieving right away." |
| QUOTE |
| Currant Bun The Aldgate Tube bomb had been exploded. A minute later it was Edgware Road then, at 8.53, King’s Cross. Finally, at 9.47, the bus was blown apart. |
The Antagonist - June 22, 2007 08:24 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Events of 7th July At 08.49, three simultaneous explosions occurred without warning on three separate locations on the Underground network. Two of the explosions happened on trains on the Circle line, one as a train left Edgware Road station in a double track tunnel en route to Paddington. The other bomb exploded on a train in a double track tunnel on its way into Aldgate station from Liverpool Street. The third bomb went off in a tube tunnel between Kings Cross and Russell Square. Almost an hour later a fourth explosion occurred on a bus in Tavistock Square, close to the Russell square incident. In total 52 people were murdered, seven at Edgware road, seven at Aldgate, 24 at Russell Square and 14 on the bus. 700 people were injured. |
The Antagonist - June 22, 2007 08:38 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| 2.1 The first explosion on 7 July took place at 8.50 am on eastbound Circle Line train number 204, travelling from Liverpool Street to Aldgate station. Within one minute, a second explosion took place on a Circle Line train number 216, travelling westbound from Edgware Road to Paddington. A third bomb was detonated approximately two minutes later, ona southbound Piccadilly Line train number 311. At 9.47 am, a fourth bomb was detonated, on the top deck of the Number 30 bus at Tavistock Square. 52 people were murdered, and 700 were physically injured. Many more hundreds of people were directly affected by the attacks, including passengers who were uninjured but potentially traumatised by the experience. |
Source: 7 July Review Committee Final Report [RTF] [PDF]
According to the GLA final report it sounds like Liverpool Street / Aldgate at 8:50, Edgware Road Paddington at 8:50/8:51 and King's Cross / Russell Square at 8:52/8:53. Not quite 'within 50 seconds of each other' that Scotland Yard alleged on 9th July 2005, two days after Efraim Halevi had written and published the script in the Jerusalem Post, which has become the 'official' story of the "near perfect execution" of "the multiple, simultaneous explosions that took place".
Two years on and still the most basic facts about what happened on 7-7 are impossible to establish with any degree of certainty.
The Antagonist - October 4, 2007 12:14 AM (GMT)
Wapping station was on the ball, shut down, shuttered-up and signs advising why the station was shut at 0900.
Source: BBC
Source: BBC
fedor - October 5, 2007 06:51 PM (GMT)
I'm interested to know if people here now accept there
were no blasts between 9am and the busbomb @9.47am?
I ask because I don't know.
numeral - February 1, 2008 03:52 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| London marks anniversary of bombings Friday, 7 July 2006 22:45 A day of commemorative events has drawn to a close in London which has been marking the first anniversary of the suicide attacks on the city transport system. A service to commemorate the victims was held in Regent's Park this evening. More than 1,000 people attended the ceremony while scores more watched from behind barriers erected at the back of the arena. Shortly before the service began, Tony Blair arrived with his wife Cherie, sitting to the right of the stage alongside the leaders of the other main political parties - David Cameron of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats' Menzies Campbell. Special events and services throughout today have been marking the anniversary of the attacks in which 52 people were killed, and over 700 injured. A two-minute silence was held in the English capital this morning. Hundreds of commuters were injured when four suicide bombers detonated devices on three underground trains and on a double decker bus. An act of remembrance was held at St Paul's Cathedral at 8.47am to coincide with the time when three of the bombs were detonated on underground trains at the height of the rush hour. The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, and Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell attended flower-laying ceremonies at King's Cross Station and Tavistock Square where the bus exploded. Colin Cramphorn, the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, where three of the bombers lived, has meanwhile warned of the possibility of further attacks by Islamic extremists. |
numeral - February 1, 2008 10:40 PM (GMT)
However:
| QUOTE |
| CNN .... Under the great dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, as its bells tolled, candles were lit at the exact time the four bombs went off -- the first at 8:50 a.m. (0750 GMT). .... At exactly 9.47 a.m. (0847 GMT), the time of the final blast, Psaradakis laid a memorial wreath in tribute to the victims, reading: "You will never be forgotten. May you rest in peace." .... |