Praise for the heroes who saved lives amid the smoke and panic

Keeping calm: passengers evacuated from the bombed Aldgate train
12 April 2012

THE heroes who saved lives in the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings were praised at the inquest today.

Tube driver Timothy Batkin showed calm leadership from the moment the Aldgate bomb detonated on his Circle line train.

While confusion engulfed London Underground staff responding to the explosion, Mr Batkin knew his duty as soon as he felt the "muffled thud" of the device, the court heard.

He brought his train, travelling at between 10 and 15mph, to a swift halt. After failing to get his Mayday message through by radio he used his mobile phone to raise the alarm.

Then he organised immediate evacuation of his passengers starting with the front carriage and, with the help of other LU staff, formed a human chain to ferry the wounded to safety.

Hugo Keith QC described a "stream of injured, soot-covered commuters filing towards platforms three and four from the smoke-filled tunnel". He added: "The speed at which the driver began evacuation alerted British Transport Police at Aldgate Station to the gravity of the situation."

Inside the devastated carriages passengers also responded immediately and bravely. Geraldine Quaghebeur, a consultant neurologist, stayed behind to tend to the injured and dying, helped by Stephen Desborough, a qualified first aider.

Elizabeth Kenworthy tied her corduroy jacket in a tourniquet around the legs of victim Andrew Brown and held the hands of the wounded for comfort.

Paramedics Craig Cassidy and Colin Pettit continued to tend to the wounded even though the police ordered a temporary evacuation amid fears of a second bomb.

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