Sunday, July 10, 2005

London blasts

Unless you have been under a rock somewhere, you'll know that London suffered 4 bomb blasts on the public transport system on Thursday morning. What a surreal and horrific day.

I was safe and sound at my client's home when it all went down, well out of London central. We didn't even know about it until the phone started ringing with people checking in to see if all was ok.

A scramble for information, and being glued to the TV for the rest of the morning ensued - like the rest of the world, I am sure. I don't think I will ever get that imagine of the bus ripped apart like that, out of my head, ever.

I cannot believe how bad the TV coverage was for those first hours, when noone knew anything, and yet several stations over here continued to broadcast random thoughts and theories from anyone and everyone, people off the streets, people nowhere near it, random musings of "experts". Jounalistic integrity at it's most oxymoronic! If you don't know anything - stick to the facts!! When desperate to know what happened, and what was happening, hearing from some random American tourist who was streets away was infuriating.

Throughout the morning, I managed to contact and hear from each of my close friends over here, and all was ok. Jes was probably the closest, missing being at Edgware Rd at the dreadful moment by mere minutes, and then walking past that bus on her way to work.

That day as part of work, my client and I had to ensure that the dancers from her company could figure out a way to get home. The following day we went into town, just a block away from the bus, for her work also. Being in the streets just next to cordened off areas, in a near empty area of London, was eerie and surreal. The horror of it all is still too hard to believe.

But things are getting back to normal. I have caught the tube today after finishing that assignment, and all was fine, and there were plenty of people on it. I avoided the stations that were hit, and the trains ran as usual.

Thanks to all who have texted, called, emailed or commented here to check how me and my friends are. It's so good to hear from home, and friends all over at a time like this.

1 comment:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...