Where were you when you heard of the London terror attacks? I was flying to Mallorca and didn't hear anything until we had landed and switched my phone on and got a text message through from my Dad
I was on a course with work when the news broke. I went and sat in the car on my breaks to listen to the story unfolding and to get updates from the office. We had a software engineer working in London that day, who mercifully survived, but for a couple of hours we couldn't contact him.
Sat at desk in government building in Sheffield. Went into lockdown. Saw first breaking news about power surge.
I was at work when the news started to break, but, by mid-morning I had learned that the wife of one of the staff had gone up to London for a conference that morning. He was unable to make any contact and that remained the case until the end of the day, by which time he still did not know the whereabouts, nor the condition of his wife. It seemed critical, as the train she was on would have arrived at London minutes before the time the first bombs went off and that was at the station named as the site of the first bomb. When he returned to work the following morning this is the story his wife had had to tell: she had arrived in London and was making her way towards the tube, but, confused by the underground maps as she was not used to visiting London, she decided first to visit the ladies. That was possibly the first decision which spared her life that day. By the time she had come out of the ladies and worked out which tube line she needed, the first people were starting to come back up the escalators and steps, as the bomb had gone off and the station had been shut. So she decided she would have to go to the conference by bus and she needed to get to Russell Square. The queues for the buses were huge, as no one could go by tube, so she decided she would have to walk. She set off, getting directions for Russell Square by a route which would take her via Tavistock Square. About five minutes after passing Tavistock Square, the bus bomb went off. She was safe again. At the end of the day it was almost impossible to get out of London, so she enquired at the Russell Hotel about accommodation. They were just taking in anyone who needed a bed for the night, allowing folk to sleep on floors if necessary and not charging for the service. Sadly, this humanitarian attitude was not reflected by others, which immediately racked up their charges to exploit the situation. When mobile signals were switched on again, she was able to make contact with home and let them know she was ok. I can only feel, having just watched the service on tv, for the people who lost loved ones that day, or who are disabled in body, mind, or spirit as a result even now ten years on. They will never be forgotten.
In London. I'd got off the tube an hour beforehand but couldn't call the missus to tell her I was safe as the mobile phone networks weren't working. I assumed the Police had shut them down but it may have been my ****-poor Blackberry.
I was off school as we had a parents day thing where you go in for 20 mins with your parent to talk to the teacher. Pretty horrifying to watch on the news, I was 13 at the time.
When it happened? Fishing, just setting up actually. Didn't find out for another hour or so when one of the lads joined us and told us.
Works canteen,sat having my break watching the one of the news channels when they announced reports of fires and explosions at various places in London.cant believe its 10 years since it happened, r.i.p.
Funnily enough I was on a equality and diversity course for the council up at Shaw lane it was called "cragrats" and they were preaching about the peaceful Muslim culture when the news broke which caused uproar amongst the lads
