NEWS
London rocked by a series of explosions around the city centre.
July 7thLatest pictures here:
BBC News Photos
Photos from Sky News
I work on the top floor of a seven floor building over looking a park so i can't see a tube station from my window. I looked online and heard that it was in fact several tube stations around the city with 'power surges'. At this point we had an announcment in the building for no one to leave and for external meetings to be cancelled.
I called a guy I was due to have a meeting with and he told me that he saw a bus exploding in the street, he was ok but he saw the side of a double decker bus blow out.
It was about 10:30am by this point and choppers were still hovering in the sky. People were getting into work and telling stories of transport congestion. Thankfully colleagues were ok.
Friends and relatives started to call and text to see if I was ok and I did the same to people I knew that worked in the parts of London most effected.
One friend was in quite a state she had been on one of the tube trains that had exploded in a tunnel. She said that the train went dark after the bang and jolt and that it filled up with sooty smoke. People were crying and a man was screaming under the train. She said that people didn't panic though they walked out the train along the tunnel to Edgware Road station.
At this stage all trains and buses within central London were closed. At work we had a meeting with our main manager who notified us that all of our department were accounted for and that due to transport restrictions we would either have to walk home later in the day or possibly even stay in the building over night - depending how the day progressed. It reminded several older members of staff of how it was in the 70s with the IRA bombings.
At 12:00 we went to a meeting room and watched the Prime Minister Tony Blair make his first staement, confirming the inevitable, that it was a terrorist attack. The timing clearly to coincide with the start of the G8 summit in Scotland.
I saw for the first time on the news pictures of people being carried from train stations by emergency services. There seem to have been 5 explosions on trains and buses in the Capital.
All this time it was drizzling with rain in London, the grey sky reflecting the atmosphere in our building.
1:00 - A group calling itself "Secret Organisation al Qaeda in Europe" has claimed it carried out the attacks as revenge for British "military massacres" in Iraq and Afghanistan. This claim is unsubstantiated though.
It is now 3:00 and the sirens have stopped hurtling around outside this office. There are no helicopters visible and if you didn't know better you would think it was a normal day. It isn't however, it is chilling to think that across London right now, less than mile from here people are bleeding from horrific injuries, people are in shock and very scared. My friend said she had cried for 3 hours, and couldn't cry any more. She was just very tired.
3.05pm - At least 37 people are reported to have been killed and 700 injured. No doubt this figure will continue to grow.
3:22 We have been told that there will be no work tomorrow, the office will be closed. Police are advising people to stay off the streets. We are free to leave and walk home. There are free river ferry services being run. If people don't want to leave work is providing food and people can stay in the building over night if they wish.
I am going to walk home, I'll leave and walk down to Aldwych and then over the Strand to Embankment, then over the bridge to Waterloo and walk south west from there through Battersea.
Home, all the main overground stations are now open I think. When I got to Waterloo trains were running.
Walking to the station was an odd experience. On one hand it was quite quiet as there were no buses around, and everyone was walking. So you knew something had happened. On the other hand leaving work there were people playing tennis, the sun was out and it seemed like a normal day. There was no sense of panic in anyone I saw on the way to the station and on the train. On the train we were tightly packed but thats no change, people read books and no one commented on what had happened.
Now watching the days horror unfold on TV, I see I was very lucky, others weren't so lucky. A terrible day for everyone in the capital.
The latest update is that bus services in Zone 1 are returning to service. Many mainline stations have reopened. London Underground services will resume tomorrow morning. Heathrow and Gatwick Express are now running and Thames Clippers are providing free travel on all boats.
Emergency Hotline: 0870 1566 344
Jamie O'Connell
Fazed Editor
