7/7 bombings: How London’s darkest day unfolded, minute by minute | EUROtoday

For commuters heading to work on the morning of seven July 2005, the day had begun unremarkably. It was evenly raining, a Thursday and London had simply hours earlier than been named because the host metropolis for the 2012 Olympics.

Newspapers carried uncommon excellent news, celebrating Britain’s victory. “London’s Triumph,” proclaimed one headline. “Gold Rush,” declared one other. Yet, inside hours, these jubilant bulletins would develop into little greater than a footnote within the reminiscences of these caught up within the tragedy that adopted.

Shortly earlier than 9am, 4 younger suicide bombers attacked London’s Underground and bus system, killing 52 passengers and injuring greater than 770 folks.

Confusion, panic after which terror gripped the capital, as survivors emerged from Tube stations, some with misplaced limbs, others supporting their fellow travellers who had been caked in mud.

It quickly turned clear that Britain was dealing with its worst terrorist assault because the 1988 Lockerbie bombing – an occasion that may set off one of the vital intense examinations of police and safety service failings in fashionable historical past.

Terror group al-Qaeda quickly claimed accountability, with a sequence of tried bombings within the following weeks resulting in heightened tensions, tragically ensuing within the police taking pictures useless an harmless man, Jean Charles de Menezes, at Stockwell Tube station.

Ahead of a brand new BBC documentary sequence recounting the tragedy, right here’s a minute-by-minute account of how London’s day of terror unfolded – and the aftermath that shook Britain.

4am – Bombers Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, Shehzad Tanweer, 22, and Hasib Hussain, 18, go away their rented flat in Leeds and drive to Luton. They had been utilizing the property in Alexandra Grove as a “bomb-making factory”.

Charles Clarke, residence secretary when the assaults occurred, described the bombers as “cleanskins”, that means that they had been beforehand unknown to authorities.

5.05am – Jermaine Lindsay, 19, the fourth bomber, arrives at Luton station, and is seen sleeping in his automobile till his accomplices arrive.

6.51am – The 4 males unite within the automobile park of Luton station, and are seen by witnesses opening the boots of their vehicles and taking out massive rucksacks. Each contained 2-5kg of explosives, whereas nail bombs had been discovered by police in a rented Nissan Micra.

7.24am – The 4 males catch the delayed Bedford to Brighton prepare certain for London King’s Cross Thameslink. A witness reported that the bombers appeared relaxed and in excessive spirits.

8,23am – The prepare arrives at King’s Cross and the bombers disembark. They are seen hugging earlier than they head their separate methods shortly after they enter the London Underground.

Khan, the ringleader, goes to board a westbound Circle line prepare, Tanweer an eastbound Circle line prepare and Lindsay a southbound Piccadilly line prepare. Hussain is seen strolling in direction of the Piccadilly line entrance however later leaves King’s Cross station after failing to board the prepare.

8.49am – Three bombs explode on the Underground inside 50 seconds of each other. The first was set off on a six-car Circle Line prepare by Tanweer between Liverpool Street and Aldgate stations and killed seven folks.

The second bomb was detonated by Khan on a Circle line prepare which had simply left Edgware Road and was travelling westbound in direction of Paddington, killing six. Just seconds later, Lindsey, who was travelling on a packed Piccadilly line service, detonated his rucksack between King’s Cross and Russell Square, killing 26.

Survivor Michael Henning, a 39-year-old banker at Lloyds, instructed The Independent within the aftermath that lacking his traditional prepare is what saved his life. He was ready for the subsequent service when the primary bomb was detonated.

“There was a flash of light and everything went black,” Mr Henning mentioned, “You couldn’t see; you could just hear shouting and screaming. We managed to find a way out. What we left behind was absolute carnage.”

8.52am – The first calls are obtained that an incident has occurred on the Underground. It is initially regarded as an influence surge, however the supervisor at Aldgate station tells the management room: “There’s people on the track.”

Terry O’Shea, a development employee from Worcester, additionally survived the assault. The 42-year-old instructed this publication on the time: “I was in the third carriage, the one behind the one where the explosion was. There was a loud bang and we felt the train shudder. Then smoke started coming into the compartment.

“It was terrible. People were panicking, but they calmed down after one or two minutes. 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.”

Meanwhile, Hussain is suspected of getting points along with his bomb and tries to contact his buddies through cell phone. He then buys a nine-volt battery from WHSmith earlier than heading throughout Euston Road to McDonald’s.

9am – London Underground operators proceed to obtain confused calls about incidents on the tracks, with studies of a prepare derailment and an individual below a prepare at Edgware Road and a loud bang at Russell Square. At this time, it isn’t regarded as terror-related.

The Independent’s assistant editor, Caroline Gammell, then a normal reporter for the Press Association, was on the Underground on the time. She recounts: “I was on my way to cover a press briefing about a health study due to be published the next day. Just 24 hours earlier I had been surrounded by thousands of ecstatic people in Trafalgar Square as the news broke that London had won the bid for the 2012 Olympics – today’s job was far more mundane.

“I jumped on the Tube at Victoria where PA’s offices were based, but after just one stop the train came to a halt at Oxford Circus. Nothing felt out of the ordinary until everyone was ordered off the train due to a ‘power surge’. As I emerged alongside scores of other commuters, I tried to call the office to tell them I wasn’t going to get to the job on time, but it was almost impossible to get a signal.

“Unwittingly, I walked west towards Marble Arch where the scores of people on the streets turned into hundreds and there was a growing sense of chaos. It appeared the power surge had affected the whole Tube network. When I finally got through to the office, all thoughts of health reports were abandoned as I was told something had happened at Edgware Road station, but no one knew what.”

9.13am – A serious emergency is asserted by the Underground’s management room, with a “code amber” instructing all trains to go to the closest obtainable platform. Another instruction is shipped at 9.40am to start evacuating an estimated 200,000 passengers.

Mandy Yu, then aged 23, was on a Tube close to King’s Cross station when one of many bombs detonated on her prepare. She described to an Independent reporter on the time how she felt a “shudder” from the entrance of the automobile.

“Everything went black, then the emergency lights went on,” she mentioned. “Thick soot from the tracks flooded through the train; it was so difficult to breathe that people were kneeling down in the carriage to try and get some air. A lady in the first carriage was screaming and screaming.

“People were praying. We passed messages from carriage to carriage for about 20 minutes in the dim light, saying there was no fire and people should try to stay calm. Some people were trying to open the doors and smash the windows to get out, and to let air in, but were unable to.

“We had been trapped for more than half an hour when we were evacuated through the back of the train. The power on the tracks had been switched off, and we walked through the tunnel.”

Around 9.15am – Ms Gammell, who had shortly been reassigned by the information desk, arrived to a scene of chaos at Edgware Road. “I turned right and saw a mass of people walking towards me. As I got closer, I increasingly noticed that they were covered in dust and soot.

“I also realised I was the only person walking north, while everyone else was scurrying south. Their faces were etched with shock and confusion and it became clear that whatever had happened was horrific. As they passed, people kept referring to an explosion, a loud noise, a bang and then darkness.

“I stopped one man with a blackened face and asked what had happened. He turned to me and said simply, ‘There were so many bodies. I tried to help but it was too late’.”

9.24am – Hussain is final seen on CCTV. He goes on to board a quantity 91 bus westbound from Gray’s Inn Road to Euston the place he boarded a quantity 30 bus to Old Street. Five minutes later, the Met Police announce a serious incident in London however say it’s too early to know what has occurred.

9.47am – After discovering a seat on the highest deck of a crowded double-decker bus, Hussain detonates his machine which explodes in Tavistock Square, killing 13 and injuring 110. The blast occurred exterior the headquarters of the British Medical Association, the place a number of senior docs had been readily available because the constructing turned an impromptu casualty station.

Eyewitness Ayobami Bello was 46 on the time, working as safety guard on the close by London School of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine. He instructed The Independent how he noticed the blast destroy the bus.

“It was terrible – the bus went to pieces,” Mr Bello mentioned. “There were so many bodies on the floor. The back was completely gone. It was blown off completely and a dead body was hanging out and there were dead bodies on the road. It was a horrible thing.

“I can’t believe it. I can’t even believe I survived it. There was panic and everyone was running for their lives. I saw a lady coming towards me soaked in blood. Everyone was in confusion.”

10.21am – Scotland Yard confirms that there have been “multiple explosions” in London. Soon after, British Transport Police verify the bus bombing.

10.53am – Home secretary Charles Clarke confirms that London’s public transport has been suspended, including that the “dreadful incidents” have brought about “terrible injuries”. Drivers are urged to keep away from coming into the town, as the size of the horror assault is being realised.

11.15am – More than two hours after the primary blasts, London’s Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, tells a information convention that they’re coping with a “confusing situation”, and that he is aware of of “about six explosions”. He refuses to verify any fatalities.

11.25am – The first studies confirming deaths within the blasts emerge with a police spokesperson saying there are not less than two fatalities.

12.05am – Prime minister Tony Blair emerges from a G8 summit in Scotland to inform the nation that “it is reasonably clear there have been a series of terrorist attacks in London”.

He later added: “It is important … that those engaged in terrorism realise that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire to impose extremism on the world.

“Whatever they do, it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilised nations throughout the world.”

12.10pm – Terror group al-Qaeda, which carried out the 9/11 assault in New York, claims accountability. In a 200-word assertion, it mentioned: “The heroic mujahideen have carried out a blessed raid in London.”

12.55pm – Mr Clarke tells parliament that there have been 4 explosions, however that the perpetrators are unknown. He confirms that the Underground will stay closed all day. Meanwhile, Mr Blair prepares to return to London through helicopter with a purpose to take care of the unfolding disaster.

Shortly after he departs, US president George W Bush, talking on the Gleneagles summit, additionally condemns the assaults.

15.25pm – The dying toll is up to date to 33, with studies of many critical accidents and misplaced limbs. After arriving in Westminster, Mr Blair vows to deliver these accountable to justice.

22.19pm – Hasib Hussain’s household report their son lacking to the emergency casualty bureau.

23.40pm – Police reveal that they’ve discovered identification belonging to Khan and Tanweer, in addition to telephones and different private objects throughout the course of their investigation.

The aftermath

It was later revealed that hydrogen peroxide was the important thing element used within the development of the bombs. The 4 males had used family supplies to assemble their gadgets in a Leeds flat, taping the curtains to home windows to hide their actions.

Finding the property simply 5 days after the assault, police would uncover a scene rapidly deserted, with bomb-making supplies strewn about. It turned clear that the boys by no means meant to return.

Over the approaching days and weeks, extra proof of the extent of detailed planning that had been put into the assaults could be revealed, with the dying toll rising to 52 folks. All had been UK residents from a variety of various backgrounds, and so they included trade college students.

In the wake of the bombings, counterterrorism funding noticed a pointy rise. MI5’s funds practically doubled inside 5 years, whereas police forces additionally obtained extra assets for surveillance instruments and coaching programmes to trace and intercept terrorists extra successfully.

Legislation handed after the assaults granted authorities sweeping new surveillance powers, however not with out controversy. The Terrorism Act 2006 allowed suspects to be detained with out cost for as much as 28 days and criminalised the glorification of terrorism. Additional legal guidelines expanded police entry to telephone and web data.

New safety models had been established, together with the National Counter Terrorism Security Office. These specialised groups targeted on figuring out threats and enhancing coordination between police and intelligence businesses.

The authorities additionally launched the Prevent technique to counter radicalisation by participating instantly with communities. However, the programme confronted criticism for fostering distrust, with opponents arguing it disproportionately focused British Muslims.