Tavistock Square
July 7, 2005, 20 years ago: Islamist terrorists carry out 4 suicide bombings during the morning rush hour in London. They targeted Underground (what the British call their subway system) stations at Aldgate, Edgeware Road and Russell Square, and on a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square.
The bombs went off at 8:49 AM, 3:49 AM U.S. Eastern Time. Not counting the bombers themselves, 52 people were killed, and over 700 were injured.
It was the deadliest terrorist attack in London's history, in spite of the "best" efforts of the Irish Republican Army, its various offshoots, and their Unionist opponents. And no enemy force had killed so many people in London since the last airborne bombing by Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe during World War II, over 60 years before.
A police investigation determined that what became known as "the 7/7 Bombings" were planned in Leeds, in Yorkshire, and raids arrested members of the terror cells involved. Like their American counterparts, the FBI, Britain's MI5 do not mess around.
Every year since, in commemoration, just before 11:30 AM -- 6:30 AM, U.S. Eastern Standard Time -- every train in the United Kingdom pulls to a stop, and its crews and passengers observe a minute's silence, the traditional British tribute for a solemn commemoration.
No comments:
Post a Comment