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Eyewitness: 'I saw bodies on the track... it was so horrific'

Thursday 07 July 2005 19:00 EDT

HEATHER BARNETT, 29, WITNESSED THE EDGWARE ROAD AND TAVISTOCK SQUARE BOMBS ON HER WAY TO WORK IN FARRINGDON:

I was on the Hammersmith and City Line, pulling into Edgware Road station, when I heard a bang. It must have been on one of the other trains.

I got out at Marylebone. There was chaos; police cars on the street and helicopters flying overhead, people everywhere because the stations were closed.

They were on their phones, trying to work out what was happening, scrambling to get on to buses.

There were police cordons and confusion as people were trying to work out what was going on.

Avoiding police cordons, I walked to Tavistock Square, on my way to Farringdon, to the small marketing company where I work. I was on the phone to a colleague, when the bomb went off.

I thought it came from a building, because I could see bricks flying out, rubble and debris flying through the air. There was noise, smoke and dust from the building.

Had I been 30 seconds later, the bomb would have hit me. People started running, the police descended immediately, shouting to people to get out and get away.

SCOTT WENBOURNE WITNESSED THE AFTERMATH OF THE ALDGATE BLAST:

I saw three bodies on the track. I couldn't look - it was so horrific. I think one was moving but I'm not too sure. There were also, I think, some bodies in the carriage, some were moving but I couldn't really look. No one was attending to them.

We walked to the platform, which took about half an hour as there were so many of us, after all it was rush hour. There were police at the platform and some of the injured were tended to.

SIMON CORVETT WAS ON A TRAIN AT EDGWARE ROAD:

All of sudden there was this massive huge bang. It was absolutely deafening and all the windows shattered.

The glass did not actually fall out of the windows, it just cracked. The train came to a grinding halt, everyone fell off their seats.

There were just loads of people screaming and the carriages filled with smoke.

You couldn't really breathe and you couldn't see what was happening. The driver came on the Tannoy and said: 'We have got a problem, don't panic.' You could see the carriage opposite was completely gutted. There were some people in real trouble.

ARASH KAZEROUNI, 22, , FROM EDMONTON, NORTH LONDON, WHO WORKS FOR BARNET COUNCIL AS A TRADING STANDARDS ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER, WAS HEADING FROM LIVERPOOL STREET TO CANNON STREET FOR A JOB INTERVIEW IN IT SUPPORT:

There was a loud bang and the train ground to a halt. People started panicking, screaming and crying as smoke came into the carriage.

A man told everyone to be calm and we were led to safety along the track.

Everyone was terrified when it happened. When they led us to safety, I went past the carriage where I think the explosion was. It was the second one from the front.

The metal was all blown outwards and there were people inside being helped by paramedics.

One guy was being tended outside on the track. His clothes were torn off and he seemed pretty badly burned.

This whole thing teaches you, appreciate your life, you don't know what's round the corner.

SOPHIE MONTFORD, 19, WAS IN THE FIRST CARRIAGE OF THE TRAIN DIRECTLY NEXT TO THE BLAST AT ALDGATE:

It was just horrible, it went completely dark and everybody was screaming.

Most of us on my carriage were lucky, we just got cuts and bruises, but those next door were in real trouble. It was just the most awful thing.

Everyone was stunned for a moment. We could see a flickering light and everyone was terrified there was going to be a fire.

Some people started to panic but most were okay. We tried to open the doors but the doors were fixed shut and the ash was settling everywhere

Eventually they opened up the front of the carriage. We walked along the track in between Aldgate and Liverpool Street.

LOYITA WORLEY, 49, WAS TRAVELLING TO WORK ON THE TUBE BETWEEN LIVERPOOL STREET AND ALDGATE WHEN AN EXPLOSION STRUCK THE NEIGHBOURING CARRIAGE:

There was a big bang and then all the ash. I could not breathe. It was falling down everywhere and over everything. Everyone was stunned for a moment. We could see a flickering light and everyone was terrified there was going to be a fire.

She said she had seen some seriously injured people down in the tunnel and that they could not open the door of the carriage at first. Some people started to panic but most were okay. We tried to open the doors but the doors were fixed shut and the ash was settling everywhere.

She saw walking wounded after the blast. There was blood dripping off them, they were all white. Eventually they opened up the front of the carriage. We walked along the track in between Aldgate and Liverpool Street.

I do not know how I am going to get home tonight.

DIONNE MCGREGOR, 26:

I have never seen so many ambulances and helicopters, the incessant sound of sirens heading towards the bus. A policeman told me that two people panicked at the top of Eversholt building and were stopped from jumping.

HOTEL WORKER GEMMA SIGNES, 32, WHO IS SPANISH AND WORKS AT THE TAVISTOCK HOTEL ON TAVISTOCK SQUARE:

I was on the Underground between Russell Square and King's Cross on my way to work when suddenly everything went black and the Tube stopped.

I thought I'd heard an explosion, a loud bang, but no one knew what was happening. We didn't hear any message from the driver.

It was pitch black, you couldn't see anything, and everyone was screaming and panicking. No one knew what to do. There was smoke everywhere - I could hardly breathe.

But someone managed to get the doors open because people started pushing out into the tunnel.

There was so much shoving, people pulling and pushing at each other, that feeling of panic and terror.

I tried to stay calm, but I'm not prepared for any of this. I come from a small town, Valencia, in Spain and nothing like this happens there.

GARY LEWIS WAS AMONG PASSENGERS EVACUATED FROM A TUBE TRAIN AT KING'S CROSS AFTER THE TRAIN EXPLOSION, AND THEN SAW THE BUS BLAST AT TAVISTOCK SQUARE:

People [at King's Cross] were covered in black soot and smoke. People were running everywhere and screaming. It was chaos.

I came out into the ticket hall and saw casualties everywhere as medics tended to them.

The one haunting image was someone whose face was totally black and pouring with blood. I turned to the right and I saw injured people all around.

The bus looked like a massive twisted metal structure. It didn't look like a bus. I was in a bit of a trance. I was in tears because I didn't know what was going on.

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