Thursday, July 07, 2005

London-In shock

It started out to be a normal working day for many commuters like myself.
I arrived at Paddington station around 8.45 am oblivious to what would happen next.
The tubes were packed as usual.
I arrived at Embankment station 9.09 am totally unaware that there had been a blast at Aldgate East station.
As I got on the district line tube to Blackfriars, we were told that there were delays on the line. We were stuck in the tube for about 30-40mins..the tube driver told us it was related to the power failure. Most people were unaware that there had just been 2 other explosions on the tube and an explosion on the no 30 bus near Tavistock Place, Russell Square.
The carriage moved in what I can only describe as "jerking movements".
The driver managed to get the front of the carriage to the nearest platform on Blackfriars station. We were then told to move up to the front of the carriage in order to safely get out of the station.
Alhamdulillah, I was one of the lucky ones and I am grateful for that.
As I arrived in the office, my colleagues were on the internet for updates on what had happened. The mobile network was down as everyone was trying to contact their loved ones.
The Met office told everyone working in the City that we were in security alert. We were told to stay put and not to go out for a few hours.
Everyone was shocked ( myself included ) in what happened today.
We left the office early around 3.45pm trying to make our way back home. Bus services and tubes had not yet resumed at the time therefore most people made their way on foot to the nearest railway station.
I made my way to Waterloo station by foot with my friend. It was eery to see that there were no familiar double decker red buses and masses of people walking on foot across the Waterloo Bridge.
I managed to get a train to Reading and made my way back to Slough. Although it took me three hours to get home, I consider myself very lucky compared to what other people had to go through today.

2 comments:

Chris & Cheryl said...

It's a shame what happened today. The cowards.

Anonymous said...

I am very pleased to hear that you are safe my cyber friend.
Please know that although far away, all of you will be in my prayers.
Isela