The 7/7 bombings: How London’s darkest day unfolded, minute by minute
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Ahead of a new BBC documentary series recounting the tragedy, here’s an account of how London’s day of terror unfolded. For commuters heading to work on the morning of 7 July 2005, the day had begun unremarkably. It was lightly raining, a Thursday and London had just hours before been named as the host city for the 2012 Olympics.
![[Emergency services assist evacuated passengers at Edgware Road]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/02/15/GettyImages-53205809.jpg)
Newspapers carried rare good news, celebrating Britain’s victory. “London’s Triumph,” proclaimed one headline. “Gold Rush,” declared another. Yet, within hours, those jubilant announcements would become little more than a footnote in the memories of those caught up in the tragedy that followed.
![[An image taken from CCTV footage of three of the four 7/7 bombers. From left to right: Mohammed Sidique Khan, Germaine Lindsay and Shahzad Tanweer arriving at King's Cross]](https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2015/07/06/23/web-London-Bombers-Get.jpg)
Shortly before 9am, four young suicide bombers would attack the London’s Underground and bus system, killing 52 passengers and injuring more than 700 people. Confusion, panic and then terror gripped the capital, as survivors emerged from tube stations with lost limbs, often supporting their fellow travellers who were caked in dust.
![[The huge emergency response at King’s Cross station which killed 26 people]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/02/15/GettyImages-53206079.jpg)
It soon became clear that Britain was facing its worst terrorist attack since the 1988 Lockerbie bombing – an event that would trigger one of the most intense examinations of police and security service failings in modern history. Terror group Al-Qaeda soon claimed responsibility, with a series of attempted bombings in the following weeks leading to heightened tensions, tragically resulting in the police shooting dead an innocent man - Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell tube station.
![[Paramedics arrive at Edgware Road after receiving reports of an explosion]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/02/15/GettyImages-53205804.jpg)
