07 July 2005, 20:52 Society

Terrorist attack through the eyes of eyewitnesses

Anastasia Makryashina Witnesses of the terrorist attacks told journalists about the terrible details of the explosions in London, about the horror that gripped eyewitnesses of what was happening. Gazeta.Ru provides excerpts from these stories.

A middle-aged British man with blood running down his face told CNN : “I was in the first carriage [of the bombed train] and there were people there who were very seriously injured. Someone said, I didn’t see it myself, that most of the people were injured at the end of the car. Many were very calm, and many panicked. I wouldn't want to go through all this again."

Apparently, in order to calm people down, the police reported that there was no panic in the metro. Judging by eyewitnesses, this is not so:

“We all felt trapped, like sardines in a can, waiting to die,” said Angelo Power, another Londoner on one of the bombed trains. “I seriously thought I was going to die, and everyone thought so.”

Loyita Worley, who was traveling in the next carriage of the same train, said: “There was a big explosion, then ash flew. I couldn't breathe. Everything around was falling and collapsing. For a minute everyone just froze. We saw a flashing light, and everyone was afraid that a fire was about to appear. Many began to panic, but many were fine. We tried to open the doors, but they were locked. There was smoke and ash everywhere."

“I saw holes in the car body and a lot of blood,” said another surviving passenger. “People were screaming, we didn’t know how to get out.” His words were confirmed by other eyewitnesses, saying that it was very difficult to get out of the trains. It was dark, the doors were locked, and the carriages were filled with acrid smoke. “Tongues of flame suddenly began to break out from behind. And I saw the fire from the window of my carriage. I saw corpses. I think a lot of people died,” said passenger Sarah Reid. After the explosion, “the train slowed down and stopped, people were breaking out the windows in the cars with umbrellas” to get out, another eyewitness said.

However, not only those who were in the subway during the explosions are in a state of shock. One Londoner told a film crew from Greek state television channel NET:

“I was on my way to the ministry, where I work as a driver, when it all started. I saw an ambulance worker pulling out bags containing severed limbs from the subway. It was terrible, I still shudder when I think about it.”

But, probably, the most terrible sight was witnessed by those who saw the bus explode at Tavistock Place. Jarvis Medhest told CNN: “I was working at the Tavistock Hotel and the bus exploded literally 40 meters away from me. There was a huge explosion and a cloud of smoke. Then the smoke began to clear and I saw the bus on fire. There were bodies everywhere. Heads and body parts, arms and legs? scattered around. Children lay next to the adults. I was shocked, I will never forget it."

Belinda Seabrook said she saw the explosion literally tear the bus in half. “I was sitting in front of a double-decker bus and heard a wild roar. I turned around and saw that half of it had been demolished,” she said. According to her, the bus was packed with people who were not allowed into the metro.

Another witness describes what happened like this: “The bus I was on was almost full. Suddenly I found myself on the floor with a bunch of people on top of me.”

Now the city is beginning to recover from the horror, there is no more panic. “Everyone, of course, is nervous, but outwardly they behave completely calmly on the streets,” one of the city residents told Gazeta.Ru. Nevertheless, the former confidence in security for the residents of the British capital, apparently, will not return soon. “It’s impossible to describe in words, it’s impossible to imagine who could do this? - said one of the witnesses to the explosion on the bus. “I thought it was all over, you know.”