London: The Day of Terror and The Day After

thamis

King of Kish
Joined
Jan 21, 2002
Messages
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Hello everyone!

I am certain that many of you wonder how life is like in London, as you all have seen the images of an exploded bus, bloody people, and mass congestion flashing over your TV screen across the world. I was asleep when the bombs exploded and was awoken by a friend of mine who could not get into the city because of the event.


THE TERRORIST ATTACKS

During the day, I watched the events on television, horrified by the fact that I know each of the locations very well, as I have passed them many times. At first, we thought there had been six explosions and three buses bombed, but that was not correct. At 08:51, the first bomb exploded on a Circle Line train between Liverpool Street and Aldgate Station. At 08:56, the second bomb exploded on a Picadilly Line train between King's Cross and Russel Square. At 09:17, the third bomb exploded on a train in Edgware Road station, damaging two other trains on adjacent platforms. The fourth bomb exploded on the top floor of a double-decker bus in Tavistock Place, in Bloomsbury (close to the British Museum and the School of African and Oriental Studies).

It appeared that there had been six bombs, as people were leaving the damaged trains through Liverpool Street and Aldgate, as well as through King's Cross and Russel Square (because the trains were in the tunnels between these stations). The numbers of dead and injured vary from news source to news source, and will certainly be adjusted within the next few days. Roughly, 40 people died and 700 were injured.

I visited two of the bomb sites with my friends KC and Florian yesterday evening. I first went to Aldgate, where the police had set up a perimeter, about 200 meters all around the site, and there was a policeman standing on virtually every street that leads to the site (of which there are many, as Aldgate is a star-like intersection). On the site, there was a horde of policemen, London Transport workers, and other officials. They had set up a tent, floodlights, and it was clear that the investigation was being conducted with a high amount of care. All around, television crews from all around the world were present.

I then went to Liverpool Street, one of the six main train termini of London. The station was open as usual, people walking through as if nothing had happened. London Transport always posts service disruptions on hand-written signs, one of which I saw. It was written at 09:00, and only stated that there were no trains to Aldgate, Bank, and a few other stations in the area. Clearly, but 09:00, nobody was yet aware of what had happened. As I deemed this to be a "historical document", I wanted to take a photograph -- only to be brusquely interrupted by two security officers who came running and shouting: "No photographs!" I wondered why, flashed my press pass, and they told me that due to security reasons nobody was allowed to take photographs within the station. They questioned me whether I had taken any other photographs in the station, apparently threatening to take my film. I convinced them that I hadn't and left (only to be followed by them until I had left the station).

We then headed to Tavistock Place, the site where the bus was bombed. Throughout the walk there (which is quite far, through half of London's centre, we did not notice any difference to a normal day in London. There was no tube running, but there were buses, cars, and people on the road as on every usual Thursday evening.

At Tavistock Place, the perimeter set up by the police was far wider than in Aldgate. The whole of Russel Square was barred from public access, and we had to make a wide detour to get to Tavistock Place. We could not enter the street, but in the distance, behind a few bushes, we could clearly see the top of the bus, which was open due to the explosion. Only the yellow handrails were sticking uselessly into the air. Again, the area just outside the perimeter was as usual.

As it was getting too dark for photographs, we headed home.


THE AFTERMATH

Today, buses and the tube are running again, except for minor stretches of the affected lines. The tube is being used, but not half as much as on other workdays. The Central Line is spookily empty. London is not in a state of shock, panic, or terror. Every Londoner had been waiting for such an attack to happen, and I have expected it throughout the last three years that I have lived here. The police and medical services were well-prepared for such an event, which is evident in the speed at which police and medical teams arrived. Today's papers state that doctors operated on the street within minutes.

Several things about this attack struck me as odd and lead me to the conclusion that it was conducted in an amateurish manner. I do not have enough information to rule out Al-Qaeda involvement in the attack, but I seriously doubt that it was planned and conducted by veteran terrorists, but rather by amateurs who are fascinated by "Islamistic" terrorism (Islamistic is in quotes, as terrorism and Islam are two very different things).

Primarily, the bombs were very ineffective, as they must have been small (or weak), and placed badly. I know what a London train during rush hour looks like: All space is used up, people are crammed together, and it sometimes feels hard to breathe. To get into a train, one usually has to wait for three trains to pass, and then to push oneself into the carriage. A bomb in such a train should kill more than seven people (which is the death toll at Aldgate). The bomb in the bus was placed ineffectively, too -- on the top floor. Generally, the upper floor of the buses is not half as full as the lower floor (as nobody is standing). Also, on the top floor the bomb has less power, as it can blow the top off, and much of the explosion's power goes into the air.

Also, the bombs exploded within one hour, and not within minutes. Terrorists all around the world have managed to explode several bombs in different locations at the exact same time. Eyewitnesses on the bus mentioned a nervous man, who left the bus shortly before it exploded. Certainly, it was very similar in the train bombs.

Additionally, the placing of the bombs is odd. Two of the bombs went off in Muslim areas of London. Aldgate (which is the gateway to Whitechapel) is an area with a majority of Bangladeshi Muslims and is very close to Brick Lane, which is often referred to as Banglatown. The area is very poor. Edgware Road is a richer area, which is predominantly Arabic. Outside the tube station, there are shops with no English writing on them, and "halal" restaurants are all around. Tavistock place is a two or three minutes' walk from the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS), which is part of the University of London. All those who wish to study Arabic language, literature, or culture are there, and the majority of the staff is Arabic. Clearly, the bombs exploded in strikingly odd areas.

London has survived the attacks as if nothing had happened. The terrorists may have succeeded in disabling a city of ten million for a day, but in the long term their goal (terror) has failed.

Greetings from London,
Jan van der Crabben
 
thamis said:
Clearly, the bombs exploded in strikingly odd areas.
I dont think its all that odd, the terrorists probably live and work in those areas. The people in Iraq have no qualms about blowing up their countrymen and co-religionists, why should these terrorists be any different?

edit: excellent post btw:goodjob:
 
Kings Cross is an extremly busy station, many people go through there (I went through there myself about 18 hours before the attack....).

edit - what I mean is that they weren't 'odd areas' to attack, they were areas that when attacked shut down london.
 
I just heard the London authorities say again that they still dont know if these were suicide bombers. The Israelis seem to know right away, theyve had so much experience. Has there been any consultation with the Israelis?
 
NYC also sent some detectives, but probably more in a learning capacity, for when this happens to us. Right after I posted that about the Israelis, I realized that the last thing they would do is publically announce that Israelis might be involved in the investigation. That wouldnt help to soothe AQ's sympathizers in the London area.
 
Excellent post Thamis. You should post more often.

Re: some of the matters.

1) LOCATIONS: Let me clarify some please, as I used to live around Liverpool Street and Aldgate (lived on Brick Lane for a year also). You are right, there are major Mulism populations at these locations. 'Banglatown' is right near Aldgate Station and up the road is the biggest mosque in the UK. However, this area is one of the classic big city phenomena where you have one of the wealthiest areas (the financial district) rubbing right up next to the one of the poorest (Whitechapel). I believe the bomb between Aldgate and Liverpool Street at 8.45am was designed to hit city workers and disrupt financial trading that day. It's that side of the fine dividing line between the two areas which the terrorists were targetting, not the poorer Whitechapel environs.

2) Yup it's business as usual for London and the UK. This has been brushed off quickly by the public and everyone is just getting on with it.

3) The authorities, police in the main, are now sifting through the forensic evidence left at each scene. It seems that some major structural damage has been caused to the tunnels beneath Russell Square and there are many bodies left down there, with emergency staff dealing with very tough conditions.

4) Glad you had a chance to walk around. London is a great city to walk around and much more accessible by foot than public transport leads us to believe.

5) In the wider perspective and cold light of day, it is apparent that although London came to a stand still for a while, this really did not impact the city in any significant way at all. Well ain't that a shame :rolleyes:
 
The Last Conformist said:
Suicide attacks are usually easy to tell from the remains of the bomber. If these were suicide bombs, they must've been big enough to pulverize the bombers beyond recognition.
They are pretty certain that the bomb beneath Russell Square (very deep underground) could not have been triggered by a mobile phone, as is often the case....
 
Rambuchan said:
They are pretty certain that the bomb beneath Russell Square (very deep underground) could not have been triggered by a mobile phone, as is often the case....
yeh you never get a phone signal when underground on the tube.
 
I could swear I heard a report at some point that they recovered timers from one of the blast sites.
 
Bozo Erectus said:
I could swear I heard a report at some point that they recovered timers from one of the blast sites.
That is what i have heard too. That could be an explaination why there aren't any suicide bombers.
 
Im still not completely clear on the number of explosions, now theyre saying it was four, right? Four instances where people were able to place explosives during rush hour and leave, without anybody noticing? Theres a possibility they used pigeons. In other words, they told some dumb punks that their mission was to take the explosives to someone, and then somebody else remotely detonated them. That could explain why the Tavistock bus bomber, became extremely nervous and left the bus hurriedly, when the driver announced over the PA that the bus was being diverted due to explosions in the underground. He realised he was a patsy.
 
Thanks for the post, Thamis.

The Londoners ability to absorb this attack emotionally is truly amazing. It's no wonder they could withstand the Blitz.

Personally, I would be surprised if it's concluded that this attack was conducted by anyone other than Al Qaeda.
 
We're well into the 'Gosh, arent we swell, resilient, strong and stoic!" phase of the media coverage:rolleyes: Not that I think Londoners arent those things, I just cant stand this sort of pandering. I hated it when it went on for months after 9/11 too.
 
Bozo Erectus said:
We're well into the 'Gosh, arent we swell, resilient, strong and stoic!" phase of the media coverage:rolleyes: Not that I think Londoners arent those things, I just cant stand this sort of pandering. I hated it when it went on for months after 9/11 too.

It's what they always do when they are waiting for the juicy info...Like who is to blame!

.
 
I would like to share all my sympathy to the Londoners and all the British people. I also would like to apologize after my awckward thread which had been posted 2 days ago. I'm all with you. I feel utterly torn in the inside by what happened in London.
 
Bozo Erectus said:
We're well into the 'Gosh, arent we swell, resilient, strong and stoic!" phase of the media coverage:rolleyes: Not that I think Londoners arent those things, I just cant stand this sort of pandering. I hated it when it went on for months after 9/11 too.

What I was saying is not that the media say "We're so strong!" (they do), but rather that when going through the city, one really feels that Londoners are just "getting on".
 
You're right about the location: Liverpool street is the area they wanted to target. Yet most people left the tube via Aldgate, which is right at the border to Whitechapel.

Still, Edgware Road is a completely Arabic part of town.

Rambuchan said:
Excellent post Thamis. You should post more often.

Re: some of the matters.

1) LOCATIONS: Let me clarify some please, as I used to live around Liverpool Street and Aldgate (lived on Brick Lane for a year also). You are right, there are major Mulism populations at these locations. 'Banglatown' is right near Aldgate Station and up the road is the biggest mosque in the UK. However, this area is one of the classic big city phenomena where you have one of the wealthiest areas (the financial district) rubbing right up next to the one of the poorest (Whitechapel). I believe the bomb between Aldgate and Liverpool Street at 8.45am was designed to hit city workers and disrupt financial trading that day. It's that side of the fine dividing line between the two areas which the terrorists were targetting, not the poorer Whitechapel environs.

2) Yup it's business as usual for London and the UK. This has been brushed off quickly by the public and everyone is just getting on with it.

3) The authorities, police in the main, are now sifting through the forensic evidence left at each scene. It seems that some major structural damage has been caused to the tunnels beneath Russell Square and there are many bodies left down there, with emergency staff dealing with very tough conditions.

4) Glad you had a chance to walk around. London is a great city to walk around and much more accessible by foot than public transport leads us to believe.

5) In the wider perspective and cold light of day, it is apparent that although London came to a stand still for a while, this really did not impact the city in any significant way at all. Well ain't that a shame :rolleyes:
 
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