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ITN
July 21 blast 'caused panic'
July 21 blast 'caused panic'
One of the alleged July 21 bombers caused panic on a London Underground train when he set off his rucksack bomb, a court has heard.More than 300 passengers on the train were seen banging on windows and screaming and shouting as they tried to escape the apparent explosion at Warren Street Tube station, Woolwich Crown Court was told.Train manager David Johnson, who was standing on the platform, said he had never seen people panic on such a scale.CCTV footage shows alleged bomber Yassin Omar fighting his way through the crowds, bolting up the escalator and jumping over the ticket barriers at the station.He was also caught on CCTV from a shop, running away from the scene.Several passengers described the acrid burning smell of what they thought was a bomb, while others spotted Omar with a large hole in the back of his shirt.Omar, 26, from New Southgate, north London, is one of six defendants who deny charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life.The others are Ramzi Mohammed, 25, of North Kensington, west London; Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, of Stoke Newington, north London; Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 33, of no fixed address; Hussain Osman, 28, of no fixed address; and Adel Yahya, 24, of High Road, Tottenham, north London.The jury was told Mr Johnson was standing on the northbound Victoria Line platform at Warren Street as the train pulled in just after 12.30pm.The alleged bomber set off his explosion in the second carriage, sending people scrambling to other parts of the train.Mr Johnson said: "I could see that all the passengers were on their feet. They were all trying to get out of the second carriage and were banging on the windows of the train."A mad rush ensued and there were approximately 300 people running over each other to get out."I can honestly say I have not seen people panicking like this before."I was shouting 'whats happened, what's happened?' but everyone was screaming and shouting."© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.
ITN | January 25, 2007
