Victims recount horror

Published July 8, 2005

LONDON: Thousands of shocked Londoners have been giving their accounts of the blasts in the capital. “I came out of the bank and walked 20 metres and I saw the bus, then it just blew up. The ground vibrated with the explosion and the bus flew into the air. It was shattered. Everyone was running for their lives crying out. Blood was everywhere. The scene afterwards was horrible: pieces of body on the ground. I saw three bodies on the ground and three just hanging out of the bus. I just missed it myself. If there are any survivors they will have very serious injuries.”—Ayobami Bello at scene of bus blast.

“There were people with burns all over their faces, they had burnt hair. One woman was very distressed and kept asking ‘is my face burnt?’”—Hamish Macdonald outside King’s cross station.

“The blast hit me in the back. People started screaming around me. I couldn’t breathe ... I was in the front of the first carriage. There was a huge massive hole in the carriage. As I went past the second carriage I could see bodies lying all over the floor.”—Unidentified tube explosion eyewitness.

“You could see bodies on the road outside. There was smoke everywhere. It was carnage.”—Bus blast eyewitness Peter Gordon.

“After Sept 11 everyone was scared that this would happen here. But with time, you forget. This shows we’re not safe here. It can happen anytime. It was very scary to witness this.”—Tube passenger Janet Biggs.

“There was a huge bang, people falling over. All I could think of was ‘get me out of here’. It was horrific. There was smoke everywhere. I couldn’t breathe.”—Eyewitness Joe Witalls on the Edgware Road blast.

“Eventually we were released from the rear of the train and we had to walk through the tunnel to Aldgate station, unfortunately this meant walking past the blast centre which of course was a pretty awful scene.”—Conrad Murkitt on Aldgate train.

“My project manager...was travelling on the bus that was blown up today. He literally got off a few seconds prior to the explosion a he was frustrated with the delay. He phoned to let me know he was safe and was going to try and reach the office. I advised him to go home.—Chris Cook on bus blast.—Reuters

Opinion

Editorial

Doctor attacked
09 Jun, 2026

Doctor attacked

AN act of reprehensible violence has shaken the medical community. On Saturday, an employee of the Provincial Civil...
AJK flare-up
Updated 09 Jun, 2026

AJK flare-up

The situation started deteriorating after a trader affiliated with the JAAC was reportedly shot in an altercation with law-enforcers.
Fault lines
09 Jun, 2026

Fault lines

THE April 8 ceasefire that halted hostilities between Israel and Iran has encountered its most serious test yet....
Soft on traders
08 Jun, 2026

Soft on traders

THE Fixed Tax Asaan Scheme for traders with an annual turnover of up to Rs200m has been designed as a ‘pragmatic...
Ceasefire in name
Updated 08 Jun, 2026

Ceasefire in name

Both sides accuse the other of violating the truce that was supposed to halt the conflict in April, yet neither appears willing to abandon negotiations altogether.
Damaged childhoods
08 Jun, 2026

Damaged childhoods

CHILD abuse is so prevalent that the UN ranked Pakistan as the least safe country for children. Even so, more than...