Posted on 07/07/2005 3:15:55 PM PDT by mdittmar
LONDON - Amid four coordinated explosions that hit London commuter routes in the middle of morning rush hour Thursday, killing dozens of people and wounding hundreds more, rescue workers, police and ordinary people streamed into blood-splattered streets to help.
Reporters and TV crews pressed against police tape at the scene. Behind them, passers-by held cell phones in the air to take pictures or video of the wreckage.
Just a day before, London basked in the glory of winning the 2012 Olympic Games, with wild celebrations on Trafalgar Square. Now, the Union Jack at Buckingham Palace flew at half-staff in respect for the dead and injured.
Police went on emergency alert code amber as soon as they understood what was happening, shutting down all subways and buses and evacuating passengers, said Brian Paddick of London Metro Police. An eerie quiet took hold in parts of the city.
Former Plano resident and recent TCU graduate Katherine Haeg’s commute to work on the London rail system seemed slower than normal Thursday, but most riders were guessing it was caused by an electrical problem. Haeg was evacuated with her fellow passengers at Waterloo Station in south-central London.
“Where I was coming from, the Tube was shut down for engineering reasons. It’s pretty normal, but this morning it was lucky, because who knows what could have happened,” Haeg said.
Haeg said one of people’s main concerns was “how to get home from work safely.”
The priority in the morning was getting in touch with loved ones -- it seemed everyone had a cell phone in his hand. By evening, maps replaced phones as thousands of Londoners tried to navigate routes home made unfamiliar by police roadblocks and shuttered subway stations.
Amid the twisted metal and mangled bodies left by Thursday's devastating bomb attacks, Londoners took pride in their tradition of fortitude and quiet defiance.
"As Brits, we'll carry on - it doesn't scare us at all," said 37-year-old tour guide Michael Cahill. "Look, loads of people are walking down the streets. It's Great Britain - not called 'Great' for nothing."
The worst attack on London since World War II brought out a strength and esprit de corps that recalled Britain under the blitz of German bombers. Prime Minister Tony Blair made a televised appeal for unity and praised the "stoicism and resolve of the British people." Both were in evidence across the city, as volunteers helped the walking wounded from blast sites, commuters loaned their phones so strangers could call home and thousands faced long queues for homeward-bound buses - or even longer walks - ithout complaint.
"People are getting on with it," said taxi driver Steve Green. "It's marvelous that they're showing their backbone."
The streets were uncharacteristically calm around St. Paul's Cathedral, whose vast dome towering above clouds of black smoke became a symbol of British defiance of Nazi bombers.
"I can't believe how quiet and calm the atmosphere is in the streets. People aren't panicking, they're just quietly walking," said Inga Gordon, visiting from Oslo, Norway. "It doesn't seem like they are in shock. They are just going about their business."
Some Muslim Londoners expressed fear they would be targeted in revenge. "Everyone is subdued and people are wondering what has happened," said restaurant manager Karim Mohammed. "People are asking how will it affect us, are we going to be treated in a nice way after this?"
However, there were no reports of revenge attacks Thursday. And while the majority of Britons opposed their nation's participation in the U.S.-led war in Iraq, there were no immediate calls to pull out the troops.
Computer technician Matt Carter, 25, said he was struck by how the attacks had united Londoners.
"It's amazing how people have stuck together. I've seen total strangers hugging each other and people coming out into the street with free cups of tea," he said.
"We can't let the terrorists defeat us. We've got to show them they will never win."
Mayor Ken Livingstone condemned the attacks as "an indiscriminate attempt at mass murder" aimed at "ordinary working-class Londoners."
He said the bombers would never succeed.
"I know that you personally do not fear giving up your own life in order to take others -- that is why you are so dangerous," Livingstone said. "But I know you fear that you may fail in your long-term objective to destroy our free society. Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail."
Livingstone was praising a radical muslim cleric of late.
He is not the man some think he is. He's a PC traitor in my view, to hell with his rhetoric.
Has he called them Islamic terrorists yet?
Such fools....Muslims laugh at us.
Give them a week and it will be "George Bush's fault".
Western Europeans mentally ... OFF
"As Brits, we'll carry on - it doesn't scare us at all," said 37-year-old tour guide Michael Cahill. "Look, loads of people are walking down the streets. It's Great Britain - not called 'Great' for nothing."
I love Churchill. Too bad his own people tossed him from office for the communists. He was a Zionist and a fighter. He, like Patton, didn't worry about politically correct niceties. (He called the enemy the "huns")
Britain brought the Muslims into their country, and now they are reaping the reward of it. Britian allowed mosques to be built all over their nation, so that they can be destroyed from within. What do they expect? The same will happen to the USA, and payday will come.
David Livingstone:
"I think George Bush is the most corrupt American president since Harding in the 20s."
What a prince...he should be on a pike at Newgate.
DAVID LIVINGSTONE IS A TRAITOR.
"will they still treat us nice" semiquote from muslims in the above article.
You obviously need to read up on this cretin.
No offense.
The Spanish were all helpful and huggy the day of the Madrid bombing, too. Then a couple days later, they surrendered.
I'm not saying the British will surrender, but I'm saying comments from people today have no predictive value for tomorrow.
And the anti-war crowd remains chaotic among resoluteness.
Out of the park BTTT
Our WWII forebears would never have envisioned such foolishness as we indulge in as to not hurt our enemy's feelings.
No offense.
nice post.
I think the Brits have stronger stones but their culture is not what it used to be....sounds familiar.
Who's David Livingstone?
I made no comment about the Brits. I am probably a bigger anglophile than 95% of folks who post here. I have one wall of my library which is mostly Brit history and yes, I have read most of them. That however does not detract from the fact that David Livingstone is a traitor to the West and has embraced radical Islam and is blatantly anti-Jewish too and has publicly bashed the hell out of George W Bush.
The fact that you have publicly declared on this forum that you do not care about "what a politician says" in the case of Mr David Livingstone is sadly unfortunate and I would imagine you actually know better...much better.
London Mayor Red Sid or whatever, and Tony Blair both said the Islamopigfascists (my word) can't win because the many muslums escaping from Allahland (where the punishment for doubt is death and where no other religeon is tolerated) shows those muslums don't want what the Islamopigfascists want to shove down their throats. But as Rush responded to the woman who called in saying that we'd better start understanding that this is the Islamic War, paraphrasing: Yeah, but you nice peaceful muslums have faith in the same book (the Qu'u'u'u'u'u'u'eeran) that the Islamopigfascists are using to justify their mass murder.
We've been bombed before, we aren't easy to impress that way. We knew this was coming, nothing has changed here.
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