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A man on a tube carriage targeted by bombers on 7/7 has recalled the horrifying moments in the immediate aftermath of the explosion.
Sudhesh Dahad was on his way to work at his job in financial service on Thursday July 7 when London’s day of terror began. Just before 8:50am, he joined other commuters boarding the front carriage of a crowded Picadilly Line train headed eastbound from King’s Cross.
But soon after the tube entered the tunnel towards Russell Square Station, the train came to a sudden holt. Germaine Lindsay, also known as Abdullah Shaheed Jamal, had set off a bomb, killing himself and 26 people and injuring more than 340.
Recalling the moment the bomb was detonated, Mr Dahad said: “My first thought was that I must be in a nightmare I’m not really here. I couldn’t really make sense of what had happened other than I was still asleep in my bed and this was a nightmare.
“And then I realised actually no, I’m not in a nightmare this is real. So, I picked myself up the ground and felt my limbs and face.
“I wasn’t sure if I was dead or alive.”
Speaking in a new documentary series about the attacks on BBC Two, Mr Dahad said that after the initial shock, he feared there could be a further attack in the form of a chemical weapon.
“The lights went out the power was completely off,” he said. “I kind of intuitively felt instantly that this must be a terrorist attack. I didn’t know there were 25 people dead in that carriage around me at that time. I just thought well we’re alive.
“So, I thought well if it was a terrorist attack and it hasn’t killed anyone then there’s more to come. maybe a biological or chemical weapon of some sort.
“Smoke started drifting down the carriage I think it must’ve been the soot dislodged from the wall of the tunnels and I thought maybe this is some kind of toxic gas and I think a lot of people thought the same because people standing near me went to the ground again thinking they might avoid it by staying low.”
Mr Dahad joined a number of survivors of the attacks to share their stories of the attacks, in which three tubes and one bus were targetted by suicide bombers, killing 52 people and injuring over 770 others.
Explosions were reported on three tubes within one minute on the morning of July 7. The first occurred on an eastbound Circle Line train seconds after it left the platform at Liverpool Street station. Eight people were killed including suicide bomber Shehzad Tanweer.
A westbound Circle Line train at Edgeware Road was then blown up by Mohammad Sidique Khan, killing seven people including himself. Shortly after the tube with Mr Dahad was targeted.
Just under an hour later, the number 30 bus was blown up by Hasib Hussain, 18, at Tavistock Square, killing 14 people including himself, and injuring more than 110.
The four-part series 7/7: The London Bombings will air from January 5 on BBC Two and stream on iPlayer.
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