Darren Conquest
I text and check in with several friends in London, just to make sure that everyone is okay. By 8 O'clock the news is repeating itself (badly) and I have heard from everyone in London. I decide to head out for a bit, to see some fellow Brits and to talk to them about it all.
MissSarah
So we have New York, Madrid and London so far. And Tokyo back nine years ago. What are the common thread under these? They are all the largest and most well-known city of their respective country.
London is the UK capital (in which the G8 summit is now held) and also the home of the 2012 Olympic Games. And today is 7th July -- 7/7. They seem to like symbolic acts.
Around the world public transit systems are now on 'high alert' with extra policemen and civil defence agents.
But isn't this kind of paranoia exactly what the instigators of terrorism want us to have?
Menj
When I first saw the news crawler about the London being hit by bombings last night on TV3, I couldn't believe my eyes.
I mean, hell. This is London we are talking about. Where Muslims are the largest minority in the country. Where tolerance has always been a virtue and Islam is respected. I even made plans to visit London someday, and in the aftermath of 9/11, London seemed like a good choice for a visit, considering that America is a big No-No for Muslims these days.
And then this...this condemnable, abhorable and cowardly attacks have to happen. Fortunately two Malaysians in London whom I personally know seemed fine.
Dunstmokel
Während eines Meetings erreicht mich eine eMail von Bina aus London: "Bin in London frühstücke gerade, keiner reagiert weil ein paar Krankenwagen mehr herumfahren, bin am Freitag wieder in Krakau, melde mich..."
Irgendein Nachrichtenkanal flimmert während der ganzen Sitzung, man sieht nur verwackelte und immer wieder die gleichen Bilder, aber irgendwo da in London sitzt oder läuft Bina herum, jemand den ich kenne. Die dauerhaften Anschläge im Irak nehme ich gar nicht mehr war, die Schlagzeilen überfliege ich oder höre gar nicht mehr hin. London könnte auch Berlin, Hamburg oder Köln sein.
Zweite eMail heute morgen: "London ist ungewohnt ruhig heute morgen, jeder greift zur Tageszeitung im Hotel, BBC World auf vielen Bildschirmen, muß ein paar Stunden früher los um zu Flughafen zu kommen ... aber ich komme bestimmt bald wieder nach London!"
wickedgooddess
Well we finally heard from my brother-in-law who lives in London. Out of everyone I know, he was closest to the attacks, actually being in the subway tunnels at the time of the bombing. He also was flying out of NYC on 9/11.
Guess he always has to be in the center of everything :-)
Lostin
This freakin piece of puzzle, when I left it there unchecked, it resolved and came out by itself...
Follow by the London blast, we are no longer safe at any part of the world, I couldn't sleep last nite...
We need a new logic to solve this kind of problem, politic can't do the job anymore.
Christine
This morning shortly after I got to work I heard that there had been a power search on the tube and that a couple of stations were closed. As the day went on we got more information. People at work were given very little information and the BBC web site was nearly impossible to access. Rumour was rife.
In Croydon the first thing we heard was that East Croydon railway station was closed, then the road in front of the office was closed.
It turned out that there has been 2 suspect packages, one in East Croydon Railway Station, one in the HSBC in Wellesley Road and one in A Lloyds TSB in George Street. 2 of our buildings were evacuated because of closeness to the HSBC.
When I see the news now I realise how lucky I am.
Sokwanele
Live 8 and the G8 summit ensured that all eyes have been on the UK in the last few days. Especially African eyes, following the efforts of people in the UK to compel the world's leaders to 'Make Poverty History' in Africa.
We are shocked and appalled at the terrorist attacks on London. The attacks seem especially barbaric and selfishly cruel in the face of overwhelming evidence of the desire of hundreds of thousands of decent, generous, warm-hearted people to do whatever they can to improve the lives of millions of the world's poorest people who have been devastated by poverty.
We, Sokwanele, send our condolences to all the people of London at this frightening time. We encourage them to stand strong in the face of evil and to not let cowardly acts of terrorism destroy their optimism or belief in themselves, their country or their values. We are right behind you in spirit.
Our deepest sympathies go to the families of those who have been killed or injured in the blasts.
Unknown
London, ten years my home - and soon to be home again - got hurt today. For what it's worth, my thoughts go out to those who have also been hurt or have lost someone.
One reflection from far away in Helsinki, and quite a selfish one I suppose - that I'm glad all of my friends are wired-for-context through things like Flickr, mailing lists, moblogging, community sites or posting their status on their sites.
I have a folder in bloglines called "Friends" which reassuringly filled up with "I'm OK" blog post titles through the day. Glancing at each other across all our little networks that lit up with "I'm ok, you're ok" - the basic transaction, the best thought.
Patrick Seguin
You hope that your friend's friends and relatives in London are ok, you watch a bit of the news footage, your stomach turns, a little voice in your head mutters, 'Here we go again,' followed by (and though you hate yourself for it, you think it, if only for a moment) 'Why can't we just bomb those troublesome countries off the face of the planet, with Dubya strapped - or better yet, nailed to - to one of those fucking bombs?' You turn off the TV, you turn on the computer, you write it out of your system. You're not going to get as obsessed with this as you did with 9-11. Since then nothing shocks you, though there are things that frighten you.
Chris
Call me a coward if you like, but the first instinct was to get as far away from London as possible. And I was not alone. I have NEVER seen so many taxi's on the motorway heading west away from the city.
I can't imagine the horror that anyone caught up in this must have gone through this morning, but my heart goes out to anyone who has been touched by this. I'm shaking now and it's difficult to type so that's it for now.
John Sandy
I was on the southbound Piccadilly line, between King's Cross and Russell Square this morning, when the incident occurred. At just after nine, there was an almighty bang and the train came to a sudden stop. The lights in the carriage went out and the air became thick with dust and soot.
Pedro
I'm from Madrid and all that`s happened this morning rings a bell. A terrible bell. All my simpathies for the people of London and for all the UK.
Chris Morrish
For some reason, I saw that it was a 6-minute wait for a tube (not unusual) and thought, "Forget it, I'll get out here at Old Street and walk to Aldgate". This is only the second time in ten months that I've done this and I have no idea why I did today but I'm very glad. I would almost certainly have been at Aldgate at 8.49. My thoughts are with the people who were not so lucky.
Richard South
I was on a Piccadilly line tube train in between King's Cross and Russell Square, about 8.45 this morning. There was a sudden explosion, the train stopped immediately in the middle of the tunnel and the power went out. The explosion didn't sound like a bomb, more a loud power surge - but almost straight away our packed carriage started to fill with smoke, and people panicked immediately. Thankfully there were some level-headed people on the carriage who managed to calm everyone down.
Rob Williams
I simply think of myself as one of the lucky ones; lucky to be working today in a part of the city that seems to be unscathed. But I know that it could have been Vauxhall, St James', Westminster, or Victoria that could have been the targets. The bus, ripped apart at Russell Square could have been the one I passed walking home over Lambeth Bridge yesterday.
Fotos
7colors
The news are still unclear but no matter who or why, the madness is the same and it goes on. What else is there to say? It's always us, the people, to pay the price and probably our responsability lies in having let events escalate this far and now it's going to be more and more difficult to bring balance back.
April
I am so angry right now. how dare those assholes do this? i am a democrat and a liberal but right now i agree with my republican mother. drop the fucking bomb! enough is enough!
Phil
My normal morning, before I get to work, usually doesn't involve checking the news other than listening to the Sports Talk morning show as I get ready in the morning and drive to work. When I finally did get in to work I still don't check the morning news, because for the most part, it is too damn depressing.
So it is a bit odd that I found out, or maybe it isn't, about the London bombings from an RSS feed of the BBC's Technology site. I saw two posts about how blogs kept information rolling and how the mobile network was jammed. Thats when I 'flipped' over to the main news site and found out about the bombings. Somehow the news sources are running in to each other now.