London Blasts

What the Hell is going on?

Bombs, bombs. Four blasts, not seven. The tube has been completely cut off. I have to say I'm quite ...scared. Maybe because I had to use a bus, and I saw what they did to the 30 bus from Hackney.








I was really worried cos my brother had disappeared and he wasn't answering my calls. My Dad was gone off to...couldn't find him. And mum wasn't answering her phone. But I've found everyone now, and everyone is good. But now I can't stop thinking about those unlucky Londoners who keep calling, and keep calling, knowing that their loved one was in Edgware, having a coffee, or in Aldgate going to work. They will never get through.


Today was my last day in College. I was stuck in suburbia. Being miles away, yet so close to home I felt detached from the whole situation. Even at Woolworths (I was havng serious hunger pangs) Cliff Richard's "Summer Holiday" was playing, this dear old lady behind me singing along. It was SURREAL.

So surreal, the traffic wasn't too bad until I got to Ealing Broadway. No one is freaking out. I'm Ok, so is my brother, my Dad and the rest of my family. I was freezing but now I've had hot chocolate and cookies. I'm fine. It's just that I have some friends and people from Children's Express who live right by Kings Cross, people who would use the 30 bus, especially at that time in the morning.


On the whole Londoners have been making jokes and just watching the TV and the radio with true intent. Many people like me, are nervously hungry. Inappropriate jokes include a Bitter Jacques Chirac. We're even speculating on why this was quite a low-key attack. Us Londoners have been expecting this sort of thing for a long time. Half of the London Met Police are up at Gleneagles, so we're looking after themselves. We're even taking pictures on our mobile. We're all somehow communicating to each other. I myself was directing tourists to the right buses, I'm glad I know the area so well. And now the sun has come out. I'm going to try and upload some pictures.

Everyone is supporting each other. Like someone on BBC News said, Londoners are very resilient. On the whole we're good with emergencies and crazyness like this. Dad is quite fed up cos there's no tea. One of friends from my politics class, is supposed to see his best friend performing for the first time. I was meant to be going to karaoke. Being that its a thursday, we'll all be together tonight.

- 33 confirmed fatalities - at least. The bus blast (the top picture) hasn't been fully counted yet. It's just so callous! On normal people like myself and my friends. Teachers and secretaries and bank clerks.

- NOT all London buses are fucked, but Central London is just off-limits. A few years ago Ealing Broadway got bombed by the IRA. It took months till we got back on track. Everything is just stuck.

- Eyewitness Accounts. Absolutely horrifying. I'm just typing for the hell of it. I don't know how long I can just sit and look at the TV. But yeah, I'm ok.

UPDATE - 7:31 PM

- I'm signing off now, all of this terrorism has left me really tired. Its been the maddest week: My college went random and I went to Live 8, I managed to go to the London Dungeons without paying (the city was gorgeous that day...) and my friend got appendix problems and is in hospital. Then my Dad went to Luton and my brother disappeared and I thought I had lost them both. Then I went loopy last night over a cut that needs stitching. Now this has happened and college is over.

I am so proud to be British right now. At the back of my mind is the Olympics, we have it, I'm going to see it, I'll be old enough to try and get a job on it, it's great. And us Londoners have been a calm resilient bunch, saving ourselves, and going to work, carrying people and running down the motorway with our suitcases trying to reach Heathrow. But we will strike back very hard. I know it. I've been on forums on the internet - we are seething. Because I'm a Londoner, along with 13 million others, we are wanted dead by crazed religious fundamentalists - I thought the world had changed and some sense had kicked after thousands of years of fighting. Thats just not on. People are even going on about joinging the army. And now Blair will be able to do anything he wants as long as he links them to the bombs. Here come ID cards. Bah.

Ok, Londoners. We're doing a great job, and I'm sure we'll get through this. Just get with your loved ones tonight and tell your stories tomorrow. I'll post later, especially if I get big news later on.