London Subway bombings, July 7, 2005 by Rob Williams

From MemoryArchive

Who: Rob Williams 
What: London Subway Bombings
When: July 7, 2005
Where: London, England

I'm sitting here in safety in a Home Office department thinking that today started for me as a normal day. One like any other. This morning I got off at Vauxhall and jumped on a bus to finish my journey at Millbank, completely oblivious to the fact that just half a mile away the city was in chaos.

My view of the world as I sit at my desk is one of a deathly silence, punctuated by a blur of white emergency vehicles and piercing sirens. We have been asked to shut our windows, and I am wondering if the Home Office bomb curtains that stand between myself and a possible window blast will be able to hold out if my building were to be targeted.

I simply think of myself as one of the lucky ones; lucky to be working today in a part of the city that seems to be unscathed. But I know that it could have been Vauxhall, St James',Westminster, or Victoria that could have been the targets. The bus, ripped apart at Russell Square could have been the one I passed walking home over Lambeth Bridge yesterday. My friend has just emailed me saying that she actually heard the blast of the Russell Square bus bomb from her office desk and I feel glad she's ok, and that she got in early to work today. She's very lucky and knows it.

My heart goes out to anyone directly affected by this.

Co-opted from Guardian Unlimited