http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4694801.stm

Tube driver tells of bomb chaos


A Tube relief driver who should have been sitting in the bombed King's
Cross carriage has described the panic and disbelief during the rescue
effort.

Ray Wright should have ridden near the suicide bomber in the front carriage,
but it was so packed he sat in the front cab with his colleague.

"There was an explosion, the lights went, the cab door, we believe, blew in
and smoke came in," he told BBC London.

"And the screaming, that's what we remember more than anything else."

Piccadilly Line driver Mr Wright would usually have been sitting in the
carriage where Germaine Lindsay, 19, is believed to have carried out the
most deadly of the four attacks on 7 July - killing himself and 26 others.

But he told how he sat up front with his colleague because the carriage was
packed to capacity that morning.

"We call it crush conditions, you couldn't have got any more passengers on
that train," he said.

"We got about a train and a half's length into the tunnel, everything seemed
okay, when all of a sudden there was an almighty explosion and I remember
everything happening at once."

Back in the passenger carriage, he described a "sea of blackened faces in a
state of total panic."

"We were screaming, above the shouting, for everyone to calm down, that we
were okay at the front and we were going to get people off."

He said as they got people off the train, he and the driver still thought it
was a mechanical or electrical fault.

It was only when the first police arrived he was told other bombs had gone
off on two other Tube trains and one on a bus.

While a local hotel brought blankets to the booking hall at Russell Square,
Mr Wright watched as doctors tried to resuscitate passengers - "it was
evident that there were limbs missing," he said.

"It's not something you anticipate seeing when you come into work, but I
think by then the emergency services were there and they were in control.

"I think at the same point we were still standing in total disbelief that
this was really happening.

"I was offered counselling, I haven't found I have needed it so far but if I
need it it is always there. I'm back to work next week."

"I was offered counselling, I haven't found I have needed it so far but if I
need it it is always there. I'm back to work next week."

Must be a very composed guy. Not sure I could go back to work that
quick
after being 10 feet from a bomb while doing my job.

B2003

In the message oups.com...
"Boltar" wrote:

"I was offered counselling, I haven't found I have needed it so far but
if I
need it it is always there. I'm back to work next week."

Must be a very composed guy. Not sure I could go back to work that
quick after being 10 feet from a bomb while doing my job.

Maybe the driver has read:

"Beware victim mentality, say psychiatrists
The key to coping with the London bombings is not therapy, mental health
experts insist, but talking to friends. Jo Revill reports

Sunday July 17, 2005

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_ne...530287,00.html

Londoners should not be encouraged to think of themselves as victims because
it could exacerbate mental health problems later on, according to experts
who are beginning to study the psychological impact of the bombings.

A survey of 1,000 people across the capital will begin tomorrow as
researchers start to assess how citizens are coping psychologically with the
after-effects of the attack.

At the same time the mental health trusts in London have joined forces to
launch a 'screen and treat' programme aimed at identifying those most
affected by the bombing - the people who were in the vicinity when the bombs
exploded.

Psychiatrists are keen to encourage resilience because they see it as the
best way of preventing future health problems. They learnt from the New York
experience when excessive therapy was used. Mandatory counselling was given
to all firemen and police officers in the wake of the 9/11 attack, and far
from alleviating symptoms it appeared to increase problems.

Professor Simon Wessely, an expert on Gulf War syndrome and wartime stress,
said: 'You have to distinguish between the people who were right there at
the time of the bombings and the general public. The former group is far
more likely to have individuals who will suffer post-traumatic stress
disorder and who do need intensive help.

'But there is no reason for us to think that hundreds of others will be left
with illness. There are dozens of studies to suggest that people are pretty
resilient. The single thing that will most help them is to have family and
friends to whom they can talk.'

SNIP rest of story