7/7 communications criticised
- ITN
7/7 communications criticised
Emergency services responding to the July 7 London bombings suffered severe communication problems, a report has found. The London Assembly's investigation into the attacks said radios did not work underground and different emergency services staff could not communicate with each other. A number of other failings have also been highlighted in the report which concludes that rescuers were too often let down by many of the official systems and a lack of planning. The report revealed that hundreds and possibly thousands of survivors of the blasts were allowed to simply walk away from the scene without anyone taking their details. They are unlikely to have received any proper counselling or support to help them cope with the psychological trauma of the attacks, according to the report. The collection and management of their details is described as 'haphazard'. Four suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 innocent people when they detonated rucksack bombs on three Tube trains and a bus across London last July. The report revealed that one elite group of emergency responders who worked on the Tube were not exempt from traffic regulations such as bus lanes or the congestion charge and did not have radios that worked underground. Peter Hulme-Cross, one of the co-authors of the report, said: 'Page after page of this report gives examples of poor planning and lack of foresight on the part of the emergency services. 'What comes across time and again from survivors' testimony is the only thing that saved 7/7 from being far worse was individual Londoners acting on their own initiative.' The London Assembly's July 7 review committee first met last November and it has heard evidence from London Underground Staff, the Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police and the other emergency services.
ITN | June 5, 2006
