Summary of the day - The Age

I submitted this very short summary of the day to The Age web site ( see the article here )

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I work in the City area of London, less than one mile from the Aldgate bomb blasts. When one person in the office proclaimed that there had been an explosion at Liverpool St I dismissed it out of hand, aligning myself with the official position at the time - that an electrical fault had caused an explosion. Then again, when the first airplane hit the Twin Towers, I thought that was an accident, too.

By the time reports filtered through the office that there had been several more blasts in the London area, the official position had changed. Most people had stopped working and were glued to the internet, monitoring the situation and filling in the blanks left by the media and authorities amongst themselves.

One of my co-workers could not get through to his girlfriend as his mobile network was either down or congested. I offered my mobile - which I had used to successfully contact my very concerned family and friends back home in Australia - but he was still not successful. This co-worker’s anxiety was heightened by his girlfriend’s work proximity to Aldgate. Two hours must have past before he got word from her. I was very relieved for him.

Our office was evacuated before the regular close of business. I was not sure whether I would have to walk the 8 miles (about 13 kms) home due to lack of public transport – a result, or course, of the bombings. To Transport for London’s credit, overland train lines were in place by mid-afternoon. You would be right to think that it was in the back of my mind that trains may not be the safest place to be on this day. But I, like millions of other Londoners, got on with the business of getting home to loved ones. I wait to see what the new day brings.