July 7, 2015 marks the tenth anniversary of the London bombings, which killed 52 people and injured more than 700. Three explosions targeted the Underground and a bus service during the morning rush-hour. Memorial services are being held to commemorate those who lost their lives, and a minute’s silence will be observed throughout the country at 11:30 am BST.
People embrace outside Edgware Road tube station, London, as Britain remembers the July 7 attacks amid a welter of warnings about the enduring and changing threat from terrorism a decade on.
London Mayor Boris Johnson (toward camera) and British Prime Minister David Cameron place wreathes at the July 7 memorial in Hyde Park, London, as Britain remembers the July 7 attacks.
London Mayor Boris Johnson (left) and British Prime Minister David Cameron carry wreathes at the July 7 memorial in Hyde Park, London.
52 pillars at Hyde Park, London represent the victims of the attack.
6/10 SLIDES © Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
People arrive with flowers at Edgware Road tube station, London.
7/10 SLIDES © PETER NICHOLLS/Newscom/Reuters
London Mayor Boris Johnson (L) and Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron carry wreaths to lay at the memorial to victims.
8/10 SLIDES © Oli Scarff/Getty Images
Representatives from ‘Transport for London’ lay a wreath at the memorial in Hyde Park.
9/10 SLIDES © Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Wire
A lady arrives with flowers at Aldgate Station, London.
10/10 SLIDES © Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
A wreath from the British Transport Police is carried into Edgware Road tube station, London.
10/10 SLIDES
A memorial service is being held at St Paul’s Cathedral to remember the 52 people killed in the 7/7 bombings.
Survivors of the attacks, relatives of those killed and first-responders have joined the Duke of York, the Prime Minister and the Mayor of London at the event.
During the service – at 11.30am – a minute’s silence was held across the country and London buses came to a halt.
More than 700 people were also injured when four bombs blew up three London Underground trains and a double-decker bus on 7 July 2005.
Candles representing the site of each bombing were carried through St Paul’s by those who helped in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.
They included Dr Peter Holden, who provided urgent treatment at the scene, and George Psaradakis, the driver of the number 30 bus blown up in Tavistock Square.
Before the service, Mr Psaradakis laid flowers at the square.
Earlier, families of the victims joined David Cameron and Boris Johnson as they laid wreaths at the 7/7 memorial in Hyde Park.
The wreath-laying ceremony took place at 8.50am – very close to the time the first three explosions went off.
How 7/7 London bombings unfolded On the card attached to his wreath, Mr Cameron wrote: “To the victims of terrorism in London 10 years ago today. We grieve your loss and will honour your memory forever.”
Mr Johnson wrote: “Ten years may have passed, but London’s memory is undimmed. We honour again today the victims of 7/7. You will live forever in the hearts of the people of this city.”
Also at 8.50am, survivors and victims’ relatives laid flowers and held a minute’s silence at Edgware Road station.
Similar events were held at King’s Cross and Aldgate, which were also affected by the attacks.
A second service at the Hyde Park memorial will be attended by the Duke of Cambridge later, featuring music, a series of readings and the laying of flowers.
Speaking after the memorial event in Hyde Park, the Prime Minister said: “Well, 10 years on this is one of those days where everybody remembers exactly where they were when they heard the news.
“It’s a day when we recall the incredible resolve and resolution of Londoners and the United Kingdom, a day when we remember the threat that we still face.
“But above all it’s a day when we think of the grace and the dignity of the victims’ families for all they have been through and we honour the memory of those victims and all those that were lost ten years ago today.”
Ten years ago to the day, suicide bombers Mohammed Sidique Khan, Shezhad Tanweer, Habib Hussain and Jermaine Lindsay met at Luton station in the morning and travelled to King’s Cross.
Within three minutes of 8.50am, Tanweer detonated his bomb at Aldgate, Khan set off his device at Edgware Road and Lindsay blew himself up between King’s Cross and Russell Square.
Hussain detonated his device on board the number 30 bus at Tavistock Square at 9.47am.
Survivors have recalled the horror of the day, the fear they experienced and the carnage they witnessed.
Some said they saw a “white flash” at the moment of the explosions, others said everything went “completely dark”.
“I was expecting to die,” Colin Pettet, a survivor of the Aldgate explosion, told Sky News.
“I was very worried about burning alive in the carriage itself.”
Philip Duckworth recalled his struggle after he was hurt, also at Aldgate.
He remembered being on the tracks and hearing somebody come close and say of him: “This one’s gone.”
“This was some sort of trigger,” Mr Duckworth said.
“I was still fighting at that point to become a bit more conscious, I had to do something, I had to move and to let them know I was OK,” he said, telling how he lifted his legs and then leaned against the wall even though he could hardly breathe.”