A strange and black hearted game of Chinese whispers

I'm in daily contact with my friends and collegues who work still in our office on the outskirts of west London. It began with a complaint this morning that there was some sort of delay around Liverpool Street Station.

Someone told me a little later that a friend of theirs had heard a loud bang near a tube station.

A report came through that there had been an accident of some kind on the Tube, due, perhaps to a power surger.

Had two Tube trains collided? Someone asked.

The power company denied their involvement in any accident.

There were injuries reported, an accident on a bus...?

And more reports of injuries from the Tube.

And explosion was mentioned.

Explosions were mentioned.

In six different locations. In seven different locations.

Inuries became casualties

Two casualties were confirmed dead.

The number of blasts fell to four.

Mention was made of a terrorist attack for the first time.

The number of the dead rose to thirty three.

The BBC reported a statement from an al-Qaeda affiliated group claiming responsibility for the attack.

Perhaps seven hundred people have been injured.

37 dead.

But don't take my word for it:

The BBC
The Guardian
The Times
Reuters
Sky News
Google

Thankfully no-one I know was hurt.

Thought iMark at July 7, 2005 09:45 PM | TrackBack