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| QUOTE (19 November 2010 - Morning session) |
| 10 1 MR STEPHEN PAUL HICKIN (sworn) 6 Q. Mr Hickin, in July of 2005, you were a duty manager 7 trains, were you not? 8 A. That's correct. 9 Q. I think you've been a duty manager for a considerable 10 number of years. 11 A. To date, 20 years, although I've just taken early 12 retirement. 12 17 LADY JUSTICE HALLETT: Had you ever come across a power 18 surge before, Mr Hickin? 19 A. Power surges do occur, yes. 20 LADY JUSTICE HALLETT: What is usually the effect of a power 21 surge? What would you expect to see? 22 A. Well, you might see arcing and fusing from the trains if 23 there's a power surge. It's a bit like when a fuse or 24 a circuit breaker blows out at home, you know, you get 25 this sudden increase in power and everything goes off. 13 1 LADY JUSTICE HALLETT: So it's a sudden increase in power 2 and then we've got no power? 3 A. Yes. 4 LADY JUSTICE HALLETT: So in the past, with power surges, 5 have you had reports of people being hurt? Have you 6 had – 7 A. Not to my personal recollection, no. 8 LADY JUSTICE HALLETT: It's usually just everything comes to 9 a stop? 10 A. Yes. I mean, you might get a consequential injury where 11 the train stopped violently. 12 LADY JUSTICE HALLETT: Indeed, if you banged your head or 13 something? 14 A. Yes. |
| QUOTE (6 December 2010 - Morning session) |
| 69 4 MR GARY STEVENS (sworn) 15 Q. ... On Thursday, 7 July, were you the duty station 16 manager or one of the duty station managers at 17 Russell Square? 18 A. I was. 19 Q. I think you'd held that role for some years before 7/7? 20 A. That's correct. 70 14 ... Did something unusual happen 15 around about 8.50? 16 A. That's correct, yes. There was a flickering of the 17 lights in my office, which was not a regular occurrence, 18 but happens now and again when there's a power surge on 19 the network. 20 Q. What do you mean by "power surge"? What is a power 21 surge? 22 A. It's where the network is taking in electricity from 23 various substations and there's a surge of power which 24 can result in a tripping of assets and flickerings of 25 lights going on and off. 71 1 Q. So to put it colloquially and more bluntly, if there's 2 a power surge, too much electricity coming in, it can 3 trip the fuses? 4 A. That's right, yes. 5 Q. Is it more significant than that when it occurs? Can it 6 actually put passengers at risk in any way; for example, 7 from causing transformers or heavy pieces of machinery 8 to blow or not? 9 A. No, what could happen, in essence, is that the lifts may 10 stall in the shaft, whereupon the appropriate staff 11 would follow the procedure to get them out. |
| QUOTE (19 October 2010 - Morning session) |
| 5 MRS CYNTHIA CHETTY (sworn) 4 2 Q. Is it possible you can just describe the explosion to 3 us, what you recollect of it? 4 A. I remember, first of all, it was like a clicking sound 5 and then there was just a bright white light that seemed 6 to go on for quite a while and, during that white light, 7 I thought it was only me affected, I don't know, maybe 8 there was a power failure or something and I was being 9 electrocuted, that's what I thought. And I could hear 10 screaming and I could smell smoke, and I remember 11 reaching out to try to stand up and I couldn't actually 12 move. I was stuck in the chair, and then everything 13 just went black straight after that, and I think I must 14 have passed out or lost consciousness or something and, 15 when I woke up, I remember it was just -- the carriage 16 was full of smoke, completely dark, and it was just 17 chaos everywhere, really. But my hearing had gone, so 18 everything was really, really faint, and I just remember 19 looking round and some people were sitting, some people 20 were on the floor. It was just a shock to see what I'd 21 seen, really. 10 10 Q. You mentioned very early on that the first thing you 11 thought was that it was as if you'd been electrocuted, 12 and you thought it might have been a power surge, 13 I think. 14 A. Yes. 15 Q. Was that something which you distinctly remember 16 thinking at the time or something which someone may have 17 said to you subsequently? 18 A. That is what I thought at the time. |
| QUOTE (19 October 2010 - Morning session) |
| 19 3 MR ANDREW BROWN (sworn) 22 24 Q. When you came to, where did you find yourself to be? 25 A. When I regained consciousness, I was actually lying 23 1 backwards, flat, with my back resting on the window 2 frame through the broken window, and at the time 3 I remember I was -- I had a sensation as if I was being 4 electrocuted, because I was aware that I was unable to 5 move and it was the electrocution that was making my 6 body rigid. ... 21 Q. Were you able to move your body at all? 22 A. Not initially, but I found that, within a few seconds of 23 me regaining consciousness, the electrocution was -- 24 seemed to reduce, and I was then gradually, over 25 about -- it's difficult to estimate the time, but 24 1 I would say, over 30 seconds to a minute, I was -- the 2 electricity diminished and I was able to move and sit 3 up. 4 Q. Did you become aware of devastation in the carriage 5 around you, but in particular of debris, scattered all 6 over the carriage, sheets of metal -- 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. -- pointing in every direction, but in particular ripped 9 up from the floor? 10 A. Yes, the -- initially, and throughout, in fact, 11 visibility was very poor, but I did become aware of what 12 seemed to be cladding and panelling in a large pile 13 immediately in front of me and lots of devastation and 14 panels and so on throughout the area. 29 21 LADY JUSTICE HALLETT: I'm sorry, Mr Brown, sorry to 22 interrupt, what is it that makes you think you were 23 unconscious for 15 minutes? Is it what you've heard 24 since? 25 A. Yes, it was the electrocution aspect, my Lady, in that 30 1 the subsequent reports that I read indicated that the 2 electricity was isolated after about 15 minutes 3 following the explosion, and I was very aware of an 4 electrocution experience which stopped. So putting the 5 two together, I've assumed that it was about 15 minutes. 6 MR KEITH: May I ask you a further question about that 7 specific point? When your body was in the window 8 opening and you found yourself propelled through it, do 9 you recall seeing either the tunnel wall near you or any 10 part of the tracks near your body as you lay there? 11 A. No. 38 5 MS SHEFF: Could we have that plan back up, please? 6 That particular position you've marked on the plan 7 to the right of you was something that you were aware of 8 as you were coming round from your injuries and your 9 electrocution, as I think you put it. 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. At the time, there was total devastation around you, 12 I think it's fair to say. 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. Panels and metal railings and all sorts of debris, and 15 I think you said also that visibility was very poor? 16 A. Yes. |
| QUOTE (19 October 2010 - Morning session) |
| 42 10 MRS MARTINE WILTSHIRE (sworn) 46 7 Q. Did you become aware of somebody behind you against whom 8 you might then have been leaning? 9 A. Yes. There was a gentleman behind me, who I know now is 10 Andy Brown, and I felt like I was sort of on him, my 11 head was on him, and, yes, he was being electrocuted at 12 the time, he was saying, you know, something about being 13 electrocuted, you know. But I don't know whether it was 14 the seat or I was on him, really. |
| QUOTE (19 October 2010 - Morning session) |
| 66 12 Statement of MS CRYSTAL MAIN read 67 2 "Bruce was sitting next to me on my left. About 3 a minute into the journey, there was a bang. I do not 4 remember hearing anything. I was sitting next to the 5 glass screen of the double doors. I remember falling 6 sideways and I felt as if I was having a fit or an 7 electric shock." 14 "I do not remember hearing anything. I was sitting 15 next to the glass screen of the double doors. 16 I remember falling sideways and I felt as if I was 17 having a fit or an electric shock. I do not know how 18 long it lasted, but it felt like ages. I tried to pull 19 myself up. I could feel that my face was sore. 20 I opened my eyes slowly. There was a lady backwards 70 19 "When Bruce sat down, he picked up the free paper 20 which was on his seat and started to read it. I looked 21 at him and then I remember I felt tired and leant my 22 head against the perspex screen. The next thing 23 I remember is that I felt as if I was having a fit and 24 I thought that it was probably because I had been 25 overdoing things. I did not hear a bang or anything. 71 1 I wondered why nobody was coming to help me. They must 2 be able to see me having a fit. I felt as if I was 3 being electrocuted, electricity seemed to be passing 4 through me. I slowly opened my eyes and it was almost 5 pitch black in the carriage. It seemed like I could not 6 see or hear anything. I had no idea what was going on |
| QUOTE (20 October 2010 - Morning session) |
| 28 1 Statement of MS CATHERINE DANIELS read 29 2 "I continued on my journey when I suddenly felt 3 a huge amount of pressure on my whole body. I felt as 4 if I was being electrocuted. I thought I was dying and 5 I think I shouted 'Lord, please forgive me'. This 6 pressure lasted for about four seconds. It was then 7 pitch black and I sat up. I had been pushed back in my 8 seat. I think I said 'I'm alive, but I can't see'. |
| QUOTE (27 October 2010 - Morning session) |
| 5 MR ANTONIO MARIO SILVESTRO (sworn) 17 4 Q. Did you shine your torch around? 5 A. I shone the torch around. Like I say, it was very hard 6 because the light kept reflecting off the dust because 7 it was still very thick, it was very hard to see. The 8 carriage was blackened, there were wires hanging down, 9 there was twisted metal everywhere. I had a quick shine 10 in both directions. I didn't see anything, and just 11 jumped back down on to the track. 44 11 Q. Could you see debris in there? 12 A. There was debris. It was just twisted metal, wires, 13 soot. |
| QUOTE (10 November 2010 - Morning session) |
| 55 3 MS ELIZABETH APRIL OWEN (sworn) 58 13 Q. Tell us, please, what you can recollect of the explosion 14 itself? 15 A. What I recollect is a strong sense of something rushing 16 past me from my right to my left. I swung round to my 17 left and I remember shouting, "What is it, what is it?" 18 Then I remember what felt like the ceiling coming in, 19 primarily to my left. I remember there being a lot of 20 dirt and smoke, and then I remember having a very strong 21 sensation that there was -- it felt like a strong 22 electrical shock. Whether that's what it was or not, 23 I don't know. What it might have been, I suppose, is 24 vibration in the carriage caused by the train suddenly 25 braking. I don't know. 59 1 Q. Did you try to do anything to stop that sensation of 2 a surge of electricity? 3 A. Yes, I thought, probably irrationally, that it made 4 sense for me to try and stand up. I tried to jump out 5 of my seat. I did jump out, but I didn't end up 6 standing because my leg -- my right leg was quite badly 7 injured, and it just gave way beneath me. So I found 8 myself sitting on the floor. |
| QUOTE (10 November 2010 - Morning session) |
| 92 1 MR STUART BULLEN (affirmed) 93 23 Q. Can you tell us, please, what you remember of the actual 24 explosion? 25 A. The explosion? 94 1 Q. Yes. 2 A. I don't remember much. I was just sat there reading 3 a paper and, the next thing I knew, I couldn't -- I had 4 ringing in my ears and I had been thrown back on the 5 seat, just I couldn't move and it felt like I was 6 electrocuted, and as I come round, there's just all 7 smoke and dust and everyone panicking everywhere. 8 Q. Which part of your body couldn't you move? 9 A. Well, there was -- I was, like, stuck back into my 10 chair, and I struggled moving forwards, you know, 11 because I think I was being electrocuted on the side of 12 the train, I think, I'm not too sure, the way -- as the 13 blast hit me, I had been threw back and I couldn't lean 14 forward sort of thing. 15 Q. How long do you think that sensation of being 16 electrocuted lasted? 17 A. Only slightly, just instantly. I come round. |
| QUOTE (11 November 2010 - Morning session) |
| 21 MR DANIEL BRIAN BELSTEN (sworn) 2 16 ... What do you recollect of the explosion 17 itself? 18 A. I just felt a whack to the side of my head and just 19 a big white flash, a big whack to the side of my head 20 and -- I don't know, just everything was in slow motion. 21 I just felt everything was just going in slow motion and 22 I just felt like I was falling through the floor of the 23 carriage, and I could feel -- you know, I could smell 24 all hot metal burning and felt like I was being 25 electrocuted, you know, I just felt like I was, you 3 1 know, being electrocuted, like, and I felt like my -- 2 I could feel burning metal and I felt -- to me, it felt 3 like my legs was on the track and they was going down 4 the track and my legs were getting sliced off. 5 Q. Do you know whether or not you lost consciousness? 6 A. I thought -- I thought I did. I thought I was on the 7 other side, to be honest, but I just remember -- I just 8 remember the doors being on top of me or something, 9 I was trapped down on the floor... |
| QUOTE (11 November 2010 - Morning session) |
| 100 3 Statement of MS KATHLEEN BENTON read 101 13 had not even had time to begin talking. Suddenly, 14 everything went black. I felt as though I was being 15 electrocuted. It was really painful. There was 16 a horrible, loud, deafening noise. I was holding Emily 17 and saying, 'What's happening, what's happening?' it 18 seemed to go on for an eternity. 19 "When it stopped, it took a while to see again. All 20 the glass had been blown out, everything to my right 21 looked burnt, but in front of me everything was normal 22 and not burnt... |
| QUOTE (16 November 2010 - Morning session) |
| 106 22 Statement of MR TONY WALTERS read 107 21 "The doors shut at Edgware Road and a few seconds of 22 entering the tunnel, I heard a loud bang. The glass in 23 the divider shattered. I remember seeing a red light on 24 the ceiling. The explosion came from my right towards 25 the front of the train in the same carriage I was in but 108 1 a few seats away from me towards the front of the train. 2 The lights went out, and the people in the train did not 3 panic, more 'What's going on?'. A few seconds after the 4 explosion, the smoke cleared and I could see the lights 5 from the train next to ours and a light from outside was 6 making me able to see the people that had been injured. 7 I received bruising in my feet and lower right leg. 8 I remember feeling that I was being electrocuted from my 9 feet up. When I looked at the damaged area, I could see 10 a large hole in the front of the train... |
| QUOTE (30 November 2010 - Morning session) |
| 41 16 MS JULIE ANNE GRUEN (sworn) 47 1 I had a sense that it was very bright around me, and ... 17 Q. Do you recollect, as well as being blown backwards by 18 the force, any sort of light or fire? 19 A. I remember I think there was some wire that came near 20 me, because I remember trying to move back out of the 21 way because I was aware that I could have been 22 electrocuted down one side of my leg, and then, when 23 I looked to my right, I saw a huge fireball explosion as 24 though it was coming towards me, and I looked at that 25 and then I just looked to my left and literally thought 48 1 that would be it. 2 Q. Did the fireball reach you, do you think? 3 A. No, just -- it must have -- I don't know what happened, 4 but I remember looking at it, then just thinking, you 5 know, next thing, "I'll just be gone". 6 Q. I quite understand. Take your time if it's difficult 7 answering these questions, there's no pressure on you at 8 all. 9 You described in your statement, and you've just 10 made mention of this sense of electrocution. Do you 11 recall being hit by some sort of light fitting from the 12 roof of the carriage? 13 A. Yes, I recall being hit -- I recall being hit by a metal 14 bar on the back of my head, because I believe that must 15 have sent me forward at one point. 16 At the same time, I was convinced that I saw some 17 kind of wire dangling, as though it was on fire, coming 18 towards my hair and my head, then I remembered moving 19 back because I didn't want to get burnt and, you know, 20 electrocuted by that. 56 15 Q. We know, of course, that the location of the bombs was 16 near there, and obviously it had a terrible effect on 17 the metal and the fabric and the structure of the 18 carriage around it. 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. Was your view of the people in that area obscured by 21 metal debris thrown up by the bomb, or could you see 22 across the floor? 23 A. I think -- I cannot remember seeing a lot of metal from 24 there. I remember seeing wires hanging down near where 25 I was sitting, and I remember, after, in the months that 57 1 passed, when the carriage pictures came out, you know, 2 when I looked at -- you could see my seat on the news 3 footage, where you saw those wires dangling down, I do 4 remember those wires. But when I looked to my right, 5 I couldn't make out metal. It was -- 6 Q. That -- 7 A. Sorry, go on. 8 Q. Please continue. 9 A. Like I said, it had just been complete -- everything had 10 been wiped out, and it was just black and darkness, and 11 odd -- I could see odd, odd shapes, but not metal. |
| QUOTE (30 November 2010 - Morning session) |
| 107 20 MS YVETTE NEWTON (affirmed) 112 14 Q. Immediately after the blast, Ms Newton, describe the 15 conditions in the carriage. What could you see? 16 A. Again, yes, it was very black. It was smoky, it was -- 17 there were loads of wires hanging down from the ceiling, 18 windows -- or glass on the floors, on me, on -- you 19 know, just glass blown out, just a lot of people on the 20 floor, yes. |
| QUOTE (30 November 2010 - Afternoon session) |
| 46 8 MR THOMAS DOW NAIRN (sworn) 56 19 Q. When you shone your torch into the first carriage, did 20 it seem to you that the majority of the passengers had 21 been thrown to the floor or were they seated or could 22 you not tell in the dark? 23 A. I couldn't really tell, it was so dark. I could see 24 a few faces round about the door. I could see they were 25 blackened and their hair was kind of on end and frizzy. 57 1 But I couldn't -- no more, I couldn't really see any 2 further into it than that. 60 24 Q. Was it apparent to you immediately that they had 25 sustained injuries, burns, flash burns, bleeding? 61 1 A. The first passengers out were more blackened and with 2 kind of frizzy hair. As those passengers came out, it 3 got progressively worse, the kind of state of the people 4 that were leaving the train. So, yes, burns, splattered 5 with blood, hair standing on end, clothes blackened, 6 that sort of thing. |
| QUOTE (1 December 2010 - Afternoon session) |
| 82 7 Statement of MS GRACIA ALILIGAY HORMIGOS read ... 25 "A few moments later, the train left King's Cross 83 1 station. Out of the blue, I heard a bang. It went dark 2 and I closed my eyes. The sensation I felt was making 3 my whole body shake violently as if I had been 4 electrocuted and my hands were shaking next to my head. 5 I thought what was going on and maybe this is it for 6 me." 7 She says she is not sure how long the sensation 8 lasted, but her ears were now ringing and she touched 9 them. 84 17 MR ANDREW O'CONNOR: Ms Hormigos continues: 18 "When the impact happened, I felt my head and it was 19 sticky, and I could smell smoke from the left-hand side 20 and I started inhaling smoke and my heart was thumping. 21 I could also see parts of the train hanging from the 22 ceiling and I had pieces of glass and metal in my hair 23 and on me... |
| QUOTE (6 December 2010 - Morning session) |
| 12 PROFESSOR PHILIP NICHOLAU PATSALOS (sworn) 4 8 the doors shut and the train began to leave the station. 9 A few minutes later, I felt this shock, this 10 electricity, going through my body, which required me to 11 stretch backwards, I was shaking, I remember seeing my 12 brain, my skeleton, I could see peculiar things. 13 I remember thinking to myself, "When is this going to 14 finish?", and it finished soon afterwards. It probably 15 only lasted a few seconds, but it seemed like eternity. 16 Q. When it finished, were you still in your seat or had you 17 been moved? 18 A. I was still in my seat, but not seated as normal, but 19 I had somehow slipped down the seat so that my back was 20 on the seat of the seat and my head was against the back 21 of the seat. 22 Q. Were you facing a particular way; for example, your back 23 towards the driver's cab, the front of the train, or 24 your back towards the rear of the train? Can you 25 recall? 5 1 A. I believe that it was my -- I wasn't totally -- I didn't 2 have my back totally towards the driver, but I was 3 slanted slightly towards the other end of the carriage. 4 Q. Were you able to see anything at the point at which this 5 shock sensation of electrical -- 6 A. Well, as soon as -- 7 Q. – electrocution ended? 8 A. As soon as I gained my consciousness, as it were, 9 I could see in front of me a dim light, and that the 10 emergency lights had come on. 11 Q. From outside the carriage? 12 A. I think so, and in front of me there was a hole in the 13 ceiling, and there was wires dropping down from that 14 hole and, when we were at Arnos Grove -- I forgot to 15 mention that there were delays. When we were at one of 16 the stations towards King's Cross, there were delays at 17 Arnos Grove, and the -- somebody was in the station 18 saying to us, "We have problems this morning, there's an 19 electrical problem and we apologise for the delays", and 20 we stayed there for a few minutes. Indeed, I thought of 21 getting off at that point, but I didn't, thinking that 22 it would be more efficient if I just sat there and got 23 into town sooner rather than later. 24 So I had in my mind that there was an electrical 25 problem on the train, so when I came to and I opened my 6 1 eyes and there was a dim light and I could see this hole 2 and these wires hanging from this hole, I thought it was 3 an electrical discharge of some kind. |
| QUOTE (6 December 2010 - Morning session) |
| 106 21 Statement of MR PATRICK BARNES read 115 22 "The train started to move. We must have literally 23 just got into the tunnel. It was only moving for 24 a minute before it exploded. It was less than a minute. 25 It felt like the doors had closed, we went into the 116 1 tunnel, then 'Boom'. I don't even think the rear of the 2 train would have made it into the tunnel because it just 3 seemed so quick. 4 "It was weird as well because my hair was singed on 5 the back. I never heard a noise, but I felt it on the 6 back of my head. There was also singeing on my arm. 7 I was holding on to the bar with my left arm. Actually, 8 I think I was holding on with both arms. I thought the 9 fingers on my right hand had melted together from the 10 metal bar, so I thought there was some sort of 11 electrical fault. I felt really peculiar inside, like 12 I had been electrocuted. It felt like it had come from 13 behind me, although I was facing the front of the Tube 14 and Phil had his back to the driver." 15 My Lady, I omitted the words in the middle of the 16 sentence because checks against the audio interview show 17 that there was an error there in the typed statement: 18 "The feeling I had at the back of my head was as if 19 someone had clouted me in the back of the head. |
| QUOTE (8 December 2010 - Afternoon session) |
| 77 12 Statement of MS MARIANA CHEIANU read 78 18 "The carriage was very full with people standing 19 behind me. I remember a man with a large bag pushing in 20 behind me but I could not describe anyone. I remember, 21 as the train started moving off, I looked up at the 22 train map and started counting the stations to 23 Hammersmith. I never finished counting because 24 I suddenly felt that I was getting an electric shock 25 which shot down my arm. My whole body felt it was being 79 1 squeezed and I could not breathe. I felt that I was 2 dying and I was losing my baby. I did not hear any loud 3 noise but was then aware that I was falling. Someone 4 helped pick me up so I must have been on the floor. 5 "When I opened my eyes, I felt blood coming down my 6 face and felt glass in my eyes. I had blood coming from 7 my ear as well. I began to cry and I think my lenses 8 came out. I could not see anything, as the whole 9 carriage was dark and I was breathing in smoke. I still 10 felt that it was something to do with an electrical 11 fault. A woman was screaming, whilst others were 12 crying, trying to calm people down and I could hear 13 others praying. I was aware there was glass and metal 14 on the floor... |
| QUOTE |
| First reports from the scene claim that the explosion was caused by power surges11. London Underground say this wasn't a cover story and in fact fitted what they were told by the drivers and the Network Control Centre12. Descriptions from survivors tell of electric shocks1314 and flames outside15 the window consistent with the effects of a power surge. Ken Livingstone told the 7 July Review Committee that power surges can cause explosions with catastrophic effects and a large number of casualties16. "There could have been had [sic] a power surge which could have had quite catastrophic casualty levels. We have always been aware of that on the Underground." - Ken Livingstone, to the 7 July Review Committee hearings 11The attacks: minute-by-minute timeline - Telegraph - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1400032/Th...e-timeline.html 12The Mysterious Case Of The Non-Existent Train Time: Reply From London Underground - http://bridgetdunnes.blogspot.com/2005/09/...nderground.html 13J7 Incident Analysis: Liverpool Street/Aldgate/Aldgate East, Eye Witnesses - http://www.julyseventh.co.uk/7-7-liverpool...ml#eyewitnesses 147/7: Blitz On Britain: THE SURVIVOR - 'I CLOSE MY EYES AND CAN SEE | Sunday Mirror Newspaper | Find Articles at BNET - http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn41...0/ai_n14721299/ 15London blast: survivors' tales - Times Online - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article541312.ece 167 July Review Committee Meeting Minutes [PDF] - http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/resilien...tes/minutes.pdf |
