7/7: TERROR COMES TO LONDON



This should have been London's proudest day.

The city has just clinched the 2012 Olympics and the world's most powerful people are on British soil for the G8 summit.

Instead, the capital is in shock after this morning's attacks.

As soon as it became clear that the incidents on the public transport network weren't power surges, as had originally been suggested, I was deployed to central London.

With tubes and buses crippled and streets gridlocked, I was able to get through the chaos on my push-bike to report from close to the bus explosion on Tavistock Square.

Today, in a paralysed city, two wheels and pedal power was the best newsgathering vehicle around. I was able to cycle around the blast site, scouting out the best vantage points and gauging the reaction of Londoners.

Emergency vehicles -- some carrying blood supplies -- were streaming through the West End.

Hundreds of people were standing around, calm but concerned, trying to find out what was going on. As I cycled along Tottenham Court Road I saw large crowds of people gathering around the TV sets in the windows of the electrical shops to watch the breaking news.

Long lines of travellers were forming at bus stops as London Underground guards pulled down the shutters and closed tube stations.

The mobile phone network was crippled and the only way I could communicate with the outside world was by satellite phone. I'd anticipated this and had grabbed a Thuraya on the way out of the office. I never imagined I'd need a satphone to make a phone call from central London.

My hostile environment training kicked in: Is there any evidence this a non-conventional attack? How far from the site of the blast should I stay in case there's a secondary explosion? What are all the available exit routes in case I need to get out in a hurry?

It was the attack on London many of us had been predicting for some time.