Survivor recalls horror of 7/7 bombing on packed London Tube: ‘I wasn’t sure if I was dead or alive’

On By Littum

A man caught up in the devastating 7/7 bombings has recalled the harrowing aftermath of the attack.

Sudhesh Dahad was on his way to work in financial services on Thursday 7 July 2005 when London’s deadliest terrorist incident unfolded. Shortly before 8.50am he joined other commuters in the front carriage of a packed Piccadilly Line train heading east from King’s Cross.

Moments after the train entered the tunnel towards Russell Square, it jerked to a sudden stop. Germaine Lindsay, also known as Abdullah Shaheed Jamal, had detonated a bomb, killing herself and 26 others and leaving more than 340 injured.

Recalling the moment the bomb detonated, Dahad said: “My first thought was that I must be in a nightmare, I’m not really here. I couldn’t really understand what had happened except that I was still asleep in my bed and this was a nightmare.

“And then I realized, actually, no, I’m not in a nightmare, it’s real. So I lifted myself off the ground and felt my limbs and face.

“I wasn’t sure if I was dead or alive.”

Emergency services outside King's Cross after the attack

Emergency services outside King’s Cross after the attack (Getty Images)

Speaking in a new documentary series about the attacks on BBC Two, Mr Dahad said. 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 and the power was completely out,” he said. “I kind of intuitively felt right away that this had to be a terrorist attack. I didn’t know there were 25 people dead in that carriage around me at the 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 kind.

“Smoke started drifting down the carriage, I think it must have been the soot coming loose from the tunnel wall and I thought maybe it was some kind of toxic gas and I think a lot of people thought that same, because people standing near me went to the ground again, thinking they might avoid it by staying low.”

Dahad joined a number of survivors of the attacks to share their stories of the attacks, in which three tubes and a bus were hit by suicide bombers, killing 52 people and injuring over 770 others.

Three tubes and a bus were hit by suicide bombers, killing 52 people and injuring over 770 others.

Three tubes and a bus were hit by suicide bombers, killing 52 people and injuring over 770 others. (AFP via Getty Images)

Explosions were reported on three pipes within a 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. Soon after, the pipe with Mr. Dahad targeted.

Barely an hour later, the number 30 bus was blown up by Hasib Hussain, 18, in Tavistock Square, killing 14 people, including himself, and injuring more than 110.

The four-part series 7/7: The London Bombings airs from January 5 on BBC Two and streams on iPlayer.