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10 July 2005

BBC: Survivor Blast Discrepancies

Update: For detailed and in depth analysis of the events that occurred in London on 7th July 2005, please see the web site of J7: The July 7th Truth Campaign. Please also sign the J7 RELEASE THE EVIDENCE Petition which calls on the British government to release the evidence that will conclusively prove or disprove, beyond reasonable doubt, the official story of what happened on 7/7.

For a full analysis of the simultaneous anti-terror rehearsal drill referred to in this post, the drill that was being conducted by Peter Power and Visor Consultants on 7/7 please see here.
"there could have been had [sic] a power surge which could have had quite catastrophic casualty levels.
We have always been aware of that on the Underground."


Source
: Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone
March 1st 2006 [PDF source]




The Antagonist happened upon this survivor account on the BBC web site from which the following excerpt is taken. Comments are given below:
'I thought I was about to die'

R from north London was in the bombed carriage of the tube train travelling from King's Cross to Russell Square on the Piccadilly Line.
"Everything went totally black and clouds of choking smoke filled the tube carriage and I thought I had been blinded.

It was so dark that nobody could see anything.

I thought I was about to die, or was dead. I was choking from the smoke and felt like I was drowning.

Air started to flood in through the smashed glass and the emergency lighting helped us see a bit. We were OK."


"Totally black" suggests no remnants of a fire from whatever type of blast occured.

Any sort of explosive device in such a confined space and containing so many people, papers and other flammable items such as clothing would have caused some sort of fire, even if only the smallest amount of explosive had been present.

Furthermore, if it is later claimed that there was any fire, the noticeable and reported effects of that fire would have been dramatically worsened as the "air started to flood in through the smashed glass" and the train would have been far from "totally black".

The sentence, "It was so dark nobody could see anything" also suggests no fire and that all surrounding electrical systems were out, as would occur in the event of a power surge.

No power to the train, or the tunnels, or the service lights that illuminate the entire length of nearly all Underground tunnels, nor any fire from the blast. All of this is entirely in keeping with MetroNet's original statement of a power surge, as reported to passengers across the Underground at the time, and to the world's media until someone, somewhere apparently decided otherwise.

Osama striking from deep within the caves of Afghanistan, or corporate manslaughter at the hands of private enterprise?

We've been duped before and, as the media circus steps up the stakes and perceived threat levels, hot on the heels of a 'credible' but non-existent threat that evacuated Birmingham City Centre last night - a story which has already dropped off the front page of the BBC web site - let us not allow the tragic and needless deaths of an ever growing number of innocent people to be posthumous party to us all being duped again.

Let the words and courage of survivors like 'R' be testimony to us all.

If you're still not convinced, maybe it's time to reveal the story of a telephone conversation that morning between two friends, one of whom was at a station, the other of whom had yet to leave for the station:
"Hi, it's me, listen don't bother coming to the station, son, it's absolute chaos."
Nothing unusual about that, except when you bear in mind that the conversation took place at 8.37am that morning, some ten minutes before the time now reported for the simultaneous train blasts that once took place over the course of an hour.

Maybe its also time to mention the continuous helicopter activity over central London between 2am and 5am for the three nights in the run up to 7/7. It probably has some connection with this story here.

Remember where you read it first and, if you don't read anything else here again, you'll know precisely why.

9 comments:

Rachel said...

HOw DARE you?

You have absolutely misquoted me - the first part of my post clearly tells of the almighty bang, the clouds of choking smoke
the terrible injuries,the the maimings and the 26 deaths YES. DEATHS. FROM THE BOMB. IN MY CARRIAGE... I run agroup of 70 survivrs from that train. All of us call you an insulting. despicableliar. That was a bomb, you jerk. A BOMB.

You disgust me.

The Antagonist said...

OK. Time to put this one to bed once and for all as it seems to be fuelling a non-existent fire.

Here is the part of your account to which you refer and which preceeded the quoted account contained in the original post:

"I was in the first carriage, behind the driver's carriage, standing by the doors - it was absolutely packed.

Even more people got on at Kings Cross. It felt like the most crowded train ever. Then, as we left Kings Cross, at about 8.55am, there was an almighty bang.
"

Thank you very much for drawing my attention to this part of your account as it helps pinpoint the time of the blast on the Piccadilly Line train and seems to be perfectly in keeping with the Metropolitan Police statement on July 7th that the Piccadilly Line blast occurred at 0856.

Quoting Jacqui Head, a slightly less well known Piccadilly Line passenger on July 7th:

"We had just left Kings Cross and had not gone very far, perhaps a minute."

If I'm not much mistaken in the elementary mathematics required here, your King's Cross departure time of 0855, plus Jacqui Head's one minute travel from King's Cross, means the time of the blast was 0856, precisely the same time that DAC Brian Paddick announced at the Metropolitan Police conference on July 7th.

I trust this addresses your allegations of a misquote.

Rachel said...

No, You are twisting my account to make it look as if there is no bomb, to add credibility to your 'power surge' conspiracy theory.

It was no power surge ,it was a bomb, please admit this.

A bomb. That Killed People. In My Carriage. And injured dozens more.
Power surge? No. NO.

Please post that you are wrong and that you admit this was no power surge. That to call it so dishonours and insults the memories of the dead and the testimony of the survivors.

Power surges do not rip bodies apart.

Holly Finch said...

you are a sad and pitiful person. as you readily admit you know no one involved or affected by these BOMBINGS. We are living with it every day, we were there, we know. Who the hell are you to comment? What business do you have? This is our story, our experience and our life. We have to live with it, pick up the pieces and struggle through every bloody day. people risked their lived to rescue us, people DIED. Who the fuck are you?

And for your train spotter mind, I was on the last carriage, there were emergency lights that came on in that carriage and emergency lights in the tunnel. There was no fire, it was a BOMB not a fire. Human flesh does not ignite. Put that in your bloody pipe and smoke it.

Mimi NY said...

It's always funny to gain a reaction by being offensive, stupid, rude and unsensitive to people isn't it? Makes you look clever by dabbling in things which are beyond your comprehension or understanding?

When you have suffered through tragedy, death, rape, abuse, terrorist attacks and finally attempts to slur your name, then I beg you, start trying to write, as it seems blatantly obvious now that you are incapable of a sound opinion.

Should you need to work on your social skills (that was euphemistic - you DO need to work onyour social skills, and also your knowledge of current affairs it seems), there are, however, some great therapists I could recommend. You certainly seem to need one. How old are you? Fifteen? that age is it? perhaps you just need to get laid rather than spending so much time wafting aimlessly around the blogosphere.

The Antagonist said...

Rachel:

You are twisting my account to make it look as if there is no bomb, to add credibility to your 'power surge' conspiracy theory.

My 'power surge' conspiracy theory? The FACT of the matter is that power surges are what London Underground - the people who run the tube - gave as the cause almost immediately it had happened and based on the information from their tracking systems and radio reports (the tunnel telephone system had been knocked out forcing drivers to resort to backup radio contact) from the drivers of the trains.

No conspiracy required. Fin.

It was no power surge ,it was a bomb, please admit this.

I have never denied that explosions took place. What is in question is the source and cause of those explosions.

It could have been a power surge, it could have been a bomb. It could have been a suicide bomb and it could have been a planted bomb. It could have been some other form of explosion that may have been caused by power surges, or something else entirely. Who knows. So many stories, so much confusion.

And just one hugely public voice from the 'crush capacity' Piccadilly Line train with a theoretical crush standing capacity (assuming 7 customers per m2) of approximately 798 passengers [Source: London Underground Rolling Stock Information].

What about Edgware Road survivors? What about Liverpool Street survivors? What about bus survivors of which we know via photographic evidence that there were many left standing on the top deck?

At the time of writing, 798 crush capacity passengers on the Piccadilly Line train is more than double the number of people that have indicated any sort of faith in the government run public inquiry by signing your petition that calls for one.

Why are you so adamant that the same government and state that you challenge over their lies in relation to Iraq, civil liberties, the right to protest, torture, etc is suddenly going to start telling the truth in relation to July 7th?

I speculated that the darkness reported as ensuing after the explosion, as reported by you and other survivors, was entirely consistent with what might have occurred in the event of a power surge. That takes no great leap of faith and still leaves significant questions about precisely what did happen.

Let's have a look at what some of the London Underground staff have to say about events that day:

"I was in my office at work, and at 0854 all the lights flickered in the office... we went down to the platform, couldn't see anything at all, when we noticed there was a light in the tunnel. We hung on to see what it was and it was the driver of train 3/11 with about 30 or 40 injured customers, who had managed to get out and he led them down the tunnel."
- Gary Stevens, Duty Manager, Russell Square

Then we have the account of a T/Op Ray Wright who travelled in the cab with Piccadilly Line driver Tom Nairn:

"Not wishing to denigrate any of the actions of police on the day, not ONE WORD has been said about the driver of Train 311, Tom Nairn. I joined Tom's train at Kings Cross, travelling in the cab with him on my way to work as a fellow driver, based at Acton Town. I took the first couple of batches of walking wounded to Russell Square and was probably the first member of staff to meet any colleague at the station. Tom stayed behind in the first car, doing what we as drivers are paid to do, looking after his train and his passengers on it. He helped some by applying tourniquets and reassuring others.

He saw things that even trained police officers found themselves unable to cope with, but most importantly had to face it on his own before help arrived probably 40 minutes later, a scene of utter devastation in almost total darkness. He has never been mentioned or praised, he has remained dignified and quiet, and has never returned to drive a train. Recently he applied for some compensation through his union.

The response from the Met Police was "We have no knowledge of this person having been involved in this incident and therefore will not be processing his claim further." Rather odd because Tom and I were interviewed by police for around three hours after the incident. The press coverage of the other 'heroes' has left him feeling completely empty and devalued. Pity when the reaction of Police and certain members of station staff are lauded he has been completely forgotten.
" - Ray Wright,
Train Operator
Acton Town Depot

The Metropolitan Police had no record of Tom Nairn, the driver of the Piccadilly line train on which the explosion occurred? No record of a man whom they had interviewed, along with his T/Op passenger in the cab, for 'around three hours after the incident' in what Ian Blair called "the largest criminal inquiry in English history"?

"Forty minutes... in almost total darkness", T/Op Ray Wright tells us on your blog. Gary Stevens, Duty Manager at Russell Square, tells us that the platform at Russell Square was in darkness after the lights flickered in his office at 0854. We also know that the lifts at Russell Square weren't working either because Ray Wright tried, "calling the Line Controller on the emergency number to try and get the lifts working to aid the rescue."

Were the power outages in the train, the tunnel and at Russell Square station which appears to have affected both the lights in Gary Stevens' office, the platform and lifts all caused by the detonation of home-made explosives inside carriage one of the Piccadilly Line train that had just left King's Cross?

Rachel said...

PLease take Tom's surname down as you have been asked to do. It is not fair that he should be pestered by lunatics.

Power surges do not blow people into pieces. 7 months on and you haven't grasped this yet.

I would like you to admit that your power surges theory is a load of bollocks. It was perhaps understandable that you took the early confused reports seriously. Now everyone knows it is a bomb, so can you please say that you accept this now,

as to continue to maintain that it was not a bomb is hugely insulting to survivors, bereaved, the rescue workers, emergency services, doctors, nurses and everyone else who was there looking after those hurt and killed by the devastation of that bomb, on that day.

As for your assertions that I am the 'only voice' of the train, what a silly person you are. I have answered this over and over and over and over and over again. But I suggest you spend 1 minute on google. Go on, have a look. There are many, many survivor accounts of the bombs. In fact, I sent you several links chock- full of them a while ago as a comment on your blog. You can also find links to 5 other survivor blogs, plus views, comments and interviews with other survivors on my blog. Which I know you read.

You really are laughably selective and appear to be getting desperate now.

The earth used to be thought to be flat. Now everyone says it is round. Conspiracy! Conspiracy! Why have the official sources changed the story? Quick, start a blog about it! You twerp.

Joe said...

mate, when are you gonna get a life?

i suppose you have lots of experience of subway power surges and underground bomb blasts, hence your supposed scientific knowledge of them?

the girl's been through a heck of a lot - more than anyone would ever wish to go through - and has been so brave to come out on a global forum and share her experiences so honestly. and what's your response? you come on here and start spouting your conspiracist nonsense because 'you know better'.

i don't care at all for your political stance or your anti-establishment obsession. sometimes it's right to question the conventional way of things. to question someone who has been through what she has been through and responded the way she has is a million steps over the mark.

one particular point - you say:
"Why are you so adamant that the same government that you challenge over their lies in relation to Iraq etc is suddenly going to start telling the truth in relation to July 7th?"
you're completely missing the point, you immature idiot. the government, much as you seem obsessed about slaggin it, has nothin at all to do with this! rachel doesn't need the government to tell her what happened -
SHE WAS THERE, stupid!

Anonymous said...

My friend works in the building above Aldgate Station. They felt the bomb go off at 8.37am that morning. This contradicts the offical timing of the bombs. Could anyone else confirm?