Unsettling Inquest into London 7/7 Bombings
- 14 years ago
An inquest into the London 7/7 bombings reveals how emergency services struggled to cope with the chaos sparked by the bomb attacks. Some victims' relatives find what they heard disturbing.
Day one of an inquest into the London suicide attacks of July 7, 2005, centred on how London Underground responded, somewhat chaotically, to the unfolding chaos.
Station staff initially thought there had been a power outage or surge hitting train lines.
[Underground Staff Member Calling Control Center at 0906 A.M.]:
"It looks like a HT cable blew. We don't think it's terrorist at the moment."
Another call played at the inquest relayed one underground official's plea for help from emergency services, almost half an hour after the attacks happened.
[Underground Official at 09:20 A.M.]:
"Hello there, I've been trying to get hold of you. There's desperate shouts from both ends at Aldgate and Praed Street, Edgware Road. They're still desperately waiting for emergency services. We've got two major incidents."
Relatives of victims who were killed in the bombing were disturbed by what they heard at the inquest.
[Relative of Victim after Hearing Tapes at Inquest]:
"Nobody seemed to really know, it was chaos, it was shambolic and I think it was actually quite disturbing."
[Relative of Victim after Hearing Tapes at Inquest]:
"To see the level of incompetence and lack of preparedness for the Underground and the emergency services, I don't know, anything could come out now."
Fifty-two people were killed in the attacks, while around 600 were injured or severely maimed.
The inquests are expected to last five months and will examine the role of the security services, and whether MI5 could and should have stopped the attacks.
Day one of an inquest into the London suicide attacks of July 7, 2005, centred on how London Underground responded, somewhat chaotically, to the unfolding chaos.
Station staff initially thought there had been a power outage or surge hitting train lines.
[Underground Staff Member Calling Control Center at 0906 A.M.]:
"It looks like a HT cable blew. We don't think it's terrorist at the moment."
Another call played at the inquest relayed one underground official's plea for help from emergency services, almost half an hour after the attacks happened.
[Underground Official at 09:20 A.M.]:
"Hello there, I've been trying to get hold of you. There's desperate shouts from both ends at Aldgate and Praed Street, Edgware Road. They're still desperately waiting for emergency services. We've got two major incidents."
Relatives of victims who were killed in the bombing were disturbed by what they heard at the inquest.
[Relative of Victim after Hearing Tapes at Inquest]:
"Nobody seemed to really know, it was chaos, it was shambolic and I think it was actually quite disturbing."
[Relative of Victim after Hearing Tapes at Inquest]:
"To see the level of incompetence and lack of preparedness for the Underground and the emergency services, I don't know, anything could come out now."
Fifty-two people were killed in the attacks, while around 600 were injured or severely maimed.
The inquests are expected to last five months and will examine the role of the security services, and whether MI5 could and should have stopped the attacks.