7/7 inquest hears tales of heroism after bombs struck London

The inquest into the 52 people who died in the 7/7 bombings has heard distressing accounts of the devastation wrought by the attacks and powerful testimony of individual acts of heroisim by survivors and paramedics. Amid scenes of carnage inside the destroyed second carriage of the Circle line train at Aldgate, the inquest heard, paramedics and fireservice personnel decided to disregard requests that they abandon the dead and dying in the immediate aftermath of the bombing because of fears of secondary explosions. Hugo Keith QC, counsel to the inquests, told the coroner, Lady Justice Hallett, that several passengers from other carriages, rather than evacuating the station, made their way to the bomb-damaged part of the train to offer help to the injured. Stephen Desborough, who had been in the sixth carriage, walked towards the end of the Circle line train, where he called out if anyone needed help, and heard a woman say "over here". The woman was Geraldine Quaghebeur, who "despite being told to leave the carriage had also stayed to help the dead and dying," said Keith. From outside the carriage, Desborough could see a pair of legs that had been detached from a body by the force of the explosion. They were, counsel said, thought to belong to Lee Baisden, 34, who had been near the bomber and who had most likely not survived the blast. Elizabeth Kenworth, an off-duty police officer who had been in the fourth carriage, tied her own jacket as a tourniquet around the legs of another man, Andrew Brown, who had lost both legs, and a belt around another leg belonging to Martine Wright. She held their hands, gave them water and comforted them, the court was told. One victim, Richard Gray, had been blown through the carriage doors by the force of the blast, the inquests heard, and onto the tracks. One witness who checked for a pulse was able to see that Gray had been wearing a suit but that it had blown off him, the court heard. Another fellow passenger, also failing to find a pulse, had covered Gray's body with his jacket. The dead man was 41, married with two children, and commuted to London from his home in Ipswich, the court heard. The coroner was also shown footage taken by emergency services some hours after the Aldgate blast, after the dead and injured had been removed. A single brown satchel could be seen among the crumpled and scorched wreckage, while a red ladies' handbag lay on the floor of the carriage, spilling its contents. Patches of blood could be seen in the carriage and on the station concourse. Keith said that in the Edgware Road bomb, there was evidence to suggest that all of those who died did so before the arrival of the emergency services in the bombed carriage. He said the emergency services did not arrive at the station until 9.12am, twenty minutes after the explosion. He said that, as a result, the role of London Underground employees was "very significant". "My lady, the terrible tragedy at Edgware Road led, as with the other scenes, to acts of remarkable heroism and human fortitude." The damaged train had come to a stop alongside another, eastbound, train. The "horror of what had occurred became plain to the occupants of the other train" he said. "At first they heard cries of anguish and for help but once the smoke began to clear, the devastated second carriage was in view, just inches away." A number of passengers smashed a window and climbed into the carriage to help. Others covered up the bodies of the dead to preserve their dignity. One man, Michael Brewster, from Derby, had become entangled in the hole blown in the floor of the carriage by the bomb, resulting in the "virtual amputation of his lower limbs", said Keith. When it became clear he could not be pulled free, two men climbed beneath the train to help him from below. They began chest compression but he died of his wounds at the scene. One witness had concluded that, because of the extent of one of the victim's injuries, they must have been a suicide bomber, Keith said. In fact, Mohammed Sidique Khan, the Edgware Road bomber, had been blown to pieces, Keith said, and a section of his spine was later found under the carriage. With regard to the bomb on the Piccadilly line between King's Cross and Russell Square, Keith said, particular difficulties had arisen because the line was much deeper and narrower than the Circle line, meaning that casualties had to be evacuated along the train, in some cases walking almost 700 metres along the tracks to reach the platforms at Russell Square. Twenty-six people died on this train, more than double the combined death toll from the other two train bombs. The coroner heard that owing to problems on the Piccadilly line that morning, the train had been crammed full. An off-duty driver who was travelling on the train estimated that as many as 1,000 to 1,500 people had been travelling in its six carriages. Of the 26 dead, six were found at different sections of track having been blown out of the carriage. Of the remaining 20, six were alive when emergency services arrived. Harrowing footage from inside the Piccadilly line showed poles hanging from the roof, large numbers of blood-covered bags and newspapers and, at one point, a crumpled train door that had been flung across a section of track to the far tunnel wall. Relatives sitting in the back of the courtroom could be seen watching intently, a number with their hands over their mouths. The inquest continues.