London explosions
I consider myself very lucky this morning. I was passing through Liverpool Street as the alarms were going off, and they were sealing the tube station after the first explosion. The sirens were going off, and the emergency lights were flashing as the staff fought with the doors, but the stupid passengers were still crushing to try and get down there.
Of course, none of us knew what was going on. I was just annoyed that I was going to have to walk in the drizzle, so made my way up to Moorgate on the Metropolitan Line, but that was no good, either. The Underground staff were doing a great job of calming everyone down. They stuck to their ‘power failure’ story, and to be fair, perhaps they actually believed it, but of course Moorgate was the site of another of the bombs. I wonder how long it was before they were told what was actually happening.
I walked back down to St Pauls, where I found the Central Line station open, so went down and sat on a train. It had just come in, and all the people who would normally get off at Liverpool Street or Bank, but who hadn’t been able to because of the closures had piled off. I got a seat, and sat there, reading the paper about yesterday’s Olympic result.
We must have been there ten minutes, during which time they were announcing that the Underground was suspended, but I assumed that they just meant the bits around Liverpool Street. Suddenly, though, they got very urgent and ordered everybody off the train and out of the station. Still, none of us really knew what was going on.
As I came back up above ground, though, it was obvious that this wasn’t just a power problem. There were police everywhere. Police cars racing in all directions with their sirens blaring. Fire engines doing the same thing, and almost sweeping the sides off the gridlocked cars as they pulled tight, fast turns around the corners.
I pressed on through the crowds, all the time passing more and more security people. There were queues at the phone boxes as the mobile networks started to collapse in the sheer weight of calls, and then as the networks started to shut out regular subscribers so that the emergency services could use the networks themselves.
I have never seen the streets so busy. Not even on tube strike days, but there was also a little bit of panic in the air. The further I walked, the more senior the police forces started to look. These weren’t just the regular beat police: they were suited-up officers with peaked caps, not helmets, and a fat collection of insignia on their jackets. All looked severe.
I turned up Grays Inn Road and then cut through to the British Museum, and Russell Square, scene of the bus bomb. I could see the police helicopter hovering in place just north of me. My suspicions were only confirmed as I reached Tottenham Court Road, and saw a cluster of people gathered around the doorway of an electronics shop. The owners had thrown the doors open and put a television on the doormat, tuned to BBC News. The pictures were of the helicopter I could see hovering to might right, and of the carnage below it. ‘Reports of walking wounded,’ said the caption at the bottom of the screen.
I didn’t stop there. I rushed into the office, just around the corner, and joined the group of people gathered around the screens in reception, watching events unfold. It was a surreal moment. Coming upstairs, the floor was almost empty, and the phones were close to silent, as they stayed for the rest of the morning. We turned into the radio, and kept tabs on the web, and particularly the RSS feeds, that dripped news onto the floor all morning.
I called, messaged and emailed everyone I needed to check up on, of pass on to news of safe arrival, and now we just have to sit and wait. We have been told to stay in the building and not go out on the streets. The police are advising people to sit tight, and not make any unnecessary journeys. The tube is closed down until further notice. Liverpool Street is shut, as are most of the other overground stations. Trains and coaches into the capital are terminating at stations further up the line. They have dropped the congestion charge for the day so that cars can pass freely through the city, although they are recommending that nobody try to drive into the capital.
It is obvious that this was a well-coordinated attack. They are saying the explosion on the bus by Russell Square was a suicide bomber, although whether that is true, or it was simply a bomb that went off too early, remains to be seen. Whether it is an anti-G8, or anti UK-in-Iraw campaign, though, has yet to be confirmed.
I have cancelled my meetings for the rest of the day and told visitors not to come here, and am now sitting here trying to think of feature ideas.
I feel very distracted.
If you liked that post, then try these...
Primrose Hill redux on February 15th, 2007
MacUser lunch on December 15th, 2006
Public humiliation on June 13th, 2005
Day out on December 2nd, 2004
Regent’s Park on August 17th, 2005
July 7th, 2005 at 1:35 pm
Thanks for the firsthand account-hope all is well.
July 7th, 2005 at 2:02 pm
We all do, sweetheart. It’s hard to keep your focus when something like this happens.
July 7th, 2005 at 2:17 pm
We in America stand with you.
The injured are in my prayers.
July 7th, 2005 at 2:30 pm
Still can’t understand: Why you bloggers think, that in time of so dramatic occurences people should be interested if you were distracted or not. You could rather do something useful than typing this worthless rubbishes. Or better be quiet, when you have nothing to say.
July 7th, 2005 at 2:36 pm
Hey Foreigner, sod off swampy! The thoughts and prayers of America are with you.
July 7th, 2005 at 2:37 pm
Nik, very well written and you have every right to feel as you do. I well remember 9/11 and how, even in Chicago many hundreds of miles removed from NYC, it seemed surreal.
Foreigner, piss off.
July 7th, 2005 at 2:45 pm
Foreigner needs to just shut the F**k up. Useless troll.
Anyway, thank you for your first-hand account. I have a very close friend who lives near your office (at Goodenough College). I haven’t heard from him yet. Any news out of that area (the U.S. newscasts haven’t really focused on the specific locations of the bombings) is most appreciated. Thank you.
July 7th, 2005 at 3:47 pm
You all Londoners are heros to day. This is not only attack on London or England but on Europe as well. The hart of London is one off my feworid place and I am planing to go there in september. I will not back off because of this cause I wont to support you by visiting you.
With simpathy from Iceland
July 7th, 2005 at 4:08 pm
Thanks Nik, for taking the time to put your thoughts into words. Know exactly how you feel since I recall all too well the strangeness of 9/11 here in the states. Brought me back to an earlier London visit when a friend and I waked the same route as the unfortunate bus at Russell Square. Our thoughts are with you and your fellow Londoners!
July 7th, 2005 at 5:06 pm
Thanks for sharing your first-hand account. Most of what we’ll be able to get in the first few hours after these terrible events is the very limited information the media feels it can share right now, (and we’ll see the same reports over and over, until more is available) so we appreciate your own impressions.
To echo the comments of others, we in America stand with you.
July 7th, 2005 at 9:36 pm
Nik, we’re very glad to hear you’re ok–we’ve heard from nearly everyone and luckily they all are fine too. But all those poor people. What a terrible day. Thanks again for your posts. I hope you didn’t have too many problems getting home.
July 7th, 2005 at 10:56 pm
I echo the others in saying that the thoughts of America stand with the people of London. May those lost today be always treasured as heros and their blood be avenged through the establishment of societies which condem such acts of indiscriminate violence throughout the world.
July 8th, 2005 at 2:20 am
We in Singapore had just witnessed the joy and jubilation of London’s successful bid for the 2012 Olympics. What a difference a day makes. I wish you well, and the rest of your fellow Londoners too.
July 8th, 2005 at 4:53 pm
The United States and it’s citizens stand side by side with all British people. You really do give creedence to the phrase “British Steel”. The Brits have always stood tall and proud and yesterday was no exception. I am just so sorry that our dumb ass of a president got you into this mess that is Iraq, which, I suspect is the reason for the attacks. Peace be with you all.
July 8th, 2005 at 6:43 pm
One thing I can’t help feeling is a little annoyance and puzzlement at the fact that for 30 years in Ireland(North and South) and Britian, the IRA - A Terrorist Organisation - killed many, many innocent people in similar circumstances and we never heard the “We’re behind you, we’ll stand together against this” from any other nation. It was always “It’s your problem, you deal with it”. However now that the US and Britian have a vested interest in IRAQ, the war on terror, to justify their actions, has suddenly become a fight for everyone. I sympathise with the families of those killed and feel nothing but disgust for all terrorists. But to those countries now saying that we all fight this war, I ask you, where were you for the last 50 years when my friends and relatives were being maimed and killed by terrorist actions?
July 9th, 2005 at 10:07 am
War in iraq has come home to Londoners! who’re now praying the price for Bush & Blair’s policies in iraq and afghanistan!
just one series of blasts…must’ve given London an idea what life is like in Baghdad, Mosul, Fallujah, Ramadi, Samarra and so many iraqi cities…for soldiers and civilians alike!
Stay Safe people…
July 14th, 2005 at 11:02 pm
I was back in the UK on Wednesday and was watching and listening to the TV and radio when the bombings were being reported. I am shocked and saddened at what has happened. My cousin was working in Central London on that day and i have friends living in the London area.
I cannot express in words what happened to those poor people who won’t be going home to their families or into work again and for their love ones as they struggle to come to terms with their loss.
For Britain as a whole, i believe that this was a pivotal moment in our nation’s history as 911 was for the US. Pivotal in that it will change our society and democracy forever. I hope and pray that it will be for the better. I cannot help but feel that we shall see much more of these bombings in Western Europe.
Those who claimed to have perpetrated this unspeakable deed in the name of Allah and representative of Islam only represent themselves. They bring death to innocents and care not a jot for the lives of others.
People have been very careful and measured in their words about these things. But as a Christian i have to say that those who did this represented forces of evil that are at work in our world today. An evil that will stop at nothing to impose a tyranny based upon a hatred of humanity.
My faith teaches me to show the love of Christ to others, but also to fight against evil. The latter is very important. There can be no lasting peace unless evil and injustices like what we see are stopped and those responsible brought to justice and judged for their deeds.
I am sure others may think that this is very strongly worded. However, unless we stand up for what we believe regardless of the cost (there is always a cost, usually in human lives), we will lose and evil will triumph.
Whatever you believe about the situation in Iraq, and i am not a fan of Tony Blair and have doubts about his so called faith and his principles, Western Societies, Europe and the US now face the greatest threat ever. Global Terrorism, which cannot be appeased, reasoned with or fought with in a conventional sense.
Perhaps now some good may come from such horror and death. That we will all become aware of the fact that we are all at war against this terror, and it is a war we must fight and win. I hope and pray now that this will be the case.
I love Britain. It is my home country, even if i am an ex-pat working abroad. I will take a stand alongside my fellow countrymen and will do my small part in fighting this threat.
My thoughts and prayers are with my fellow Britons now.
July 22nd, 2005 at 1:44 am
Has anyone considered the possibility that the terrorists were set up by their handlers to fail? Perhaps the higher ups wanted them to fail without the bombers knowing that they were set up. These would-be bombers may have been fed bogus information about plans and weapons by their handlers. Then, when they were to be caught and interrogated, they would, unbeknownst to them, feed the authorities misinformation. Since they would not themselves know that the information was bogus, they could be very convincing.